Should Dave Loggins 'Come Home' To Tennessee: A Patch Investigation

NASHVILLE, TN — In 1974, Dave Loggins spent four minutes and 11 seconds criss-crossing the country and in plaintive, country-inspired tones urged an unnamed woman to follow him as he tried to find himself. In response, his partner begged him to instead settle down, reminding him, in turn, that neither Boston, Denver nor Los Angeles were his "kind of town." She implored him "baby, you come home to me," as she remained "the No. 1 fan of the man from Tennessee."

But who was right? Was Loggins correct in asserting that a better life was to be had in Beantown, the Mile High City or the City of Angels? Or was his partner correct and Music City was the right spot for them? Using Money magazine's widget that compares American cities across seven metrics, Patch seeks to answer this decades-old question.

• Percent of Residents With at Least a Bachelor's Degree: Loggins does not spend too much time talking about the relative educational merits of his nominated cities, though given that buyers of fine art tend to be better educated, it should be a consideration since he suggests his partner could "sell [her] paintings" on Boston's sidewalks. And indeed of the four cities in question, Boston does have the highest percentage of bachelor degree holders at 44.2 percent, just ahead of Denver at 43.1 percent. Nashville comes in at 35 percent. LA is at 30.2 percent. All four are ahead of the national average of 28.9 percent.
• Average Commute Time: The unnamed woman really wants Loggins to settle down and spend more time with her. Looking at commute times, it is clear why she wants him to come back to Tennessee. Nashville's 23-minute average commute is quicker than Boston (28), Denver (24) and Los Angeles (28), and, despite the grumbles of anyone driving into downtown during the week, below the national average of 25. Score one for Nashville.
• Median Family Income: Making money to build a life is clearly a major concern of Loggins in the song. Chances are his income in Nashville would be lower than anywhere he suggests. The median income in the Music City is $56,104, a tick lower than LA's $56,282, but far behind Denver's $64,086 and Boston's $63,662.
• Projected Five-Year Job Growth: In the opening verse, Loggins says he hopes to be working at a cafe in Boston, but based on Money's data, it's hard to judge whether that job is going to come open, as the magazine was unable to compute job growth data for the city. Projected job growth in Nashville is a solid 5 percent, which trails Denver's 6 percent, but, it must be noted, Loggins did not seem terribly interested in working if he settled in Denver, saying that he wanted to move up in the mountains so far "that we can't be found." Loggins was spot-on in his assessment of the economic situation in LA — "California life alone is just too hard to build" — as the city's job growth is estimated at just 2 percent.
• Unemployment Rate: Unemployment is going to be a bigger problem in LA than elsewhere, too, with a rate of 5.8 percent, ahead of Nashville and Denver — two places where it seems Loggins has little interest in working — at 3.8 percent and Boston at 4.2 percent.
• Median Home Price: It's a safe assumption that Loggins finds housing costs in Boston to be a bit dear, as he is "staying ... with some friends." The median home price in Boston is $545,000. But if he thought that was bad, how is he affording a house in LA "that looks out over the ocean" when the median price there is $587,000? Money did not provide statistics for prices "up into the mountains" around Denver, but in the city proper, the median is $350,000. As for Nashville? Despite a tight and escalating home market, the median housing price is $215,000. As a function of income, the median home in Nashville is 3.8 times the median income. That's far more affordable than the other three cities, particularly Los Angeles, where the median home is 10.4 times the median income. "Life alone is too hard to build" indeed, Dave.
• Average Property Tax: Nashville's average tax bill of $1,926 is actually more expensive than Denver ($1,673), but is almost laughably cheaper than Boston at $5,292 and Los Angeles at $5,004. Once again, Loggins should get a job on CNBC with the way he sized up the economics in California.

Ultimately, with its relatively low cost of living, shorter commutes and solid job prospects, Loggins should listen to his lady and come home to Tennessee. Plus, as any good logistics manager knows, should Loggins really find out that the drifter's world going round and round never stops and he gets the wanderlust, Nashville is one of only 12 cities with an intersection of three major interstates and is within one-day's drive of half of the United States' population and within two-day's drive of 75 percent of the population. That ramblin' boy doesn't necessarily have to settle down, if he doesn't want to.

Compare any two American cities, whether they are mentioned in easy-listening classics or not, with Money's widget.