• Population: 1.4 million
• New residents: 25,400
• Percentage gain: 1.8%

San Antonio is a blue collar town that is attracting a lot of cutting-edge companies.

Military bases, such as Fort Sam Houston and Lakeland Air Force Base, have brought many people and jobs to the area in the past. But in recent years, companies including Toyota, Medtronics and Rack Space, a cloud computing company, have also been attracting newcomers.

Those who move here from other parts of the country often find their income stretches much further in San Antonio. According to CNNMoney's cost of living calculator, it's 57% less expensive to live there than in Manhattan, 29% less than in Los Angeles and 18% cheaper than in Chicago.

The biggest savings is on housing. The median price for a single-family home in the metro area was $167,000 during the first quarter of 2013, according to the National Association of Home Builders, well below the $184,000 national median.

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