Moving to a cheap city to save money can backfire and leave you stuck — bad for people chasing lower costs instead of better jobs.

• Jobs and higher pay cluster in expensive places like San Diego, Los Angeles, and Austin.
• People who move to cheap, rural areas usually go there to escape high costs, not to build wealth.
• Once you're there, low local wages can trap you and make it hard to ever move back.
• Chasing affordability over opportunity can stall your income growth long term.

Outlook: Expect the gap between high-cost job hubs and cheaper areas to keep pulling ambitious workers toward expensive cities.