The 12 cities where you can live large on $60,000

Everyone wants to live well in the years ahead, but that may simply boil down to where you choose to live.

The best places are likely the ones where you can find a job, earn a good salary and buy a nice home. In a 2016 report, job-hunting site Glassdoor calculated the top spots where your pay will go furthest, based on salaries and home values. The jobs site came up with a cost of living ratio — a city's median base salary divided by its median home value. (A higher ratio number is better.)

Noticeably missing are some of America's biggest cities. While you can certainly earn more in hubs like New York and San Francisco, fewer people can afford to buy a house or an apartment there.

"Though there are certainly other financial factors to consider when taking into account the total cost of living, this data reinforces that pay typically goes further in mid-sized cities versus big metropolitan areas where there is often tighter competition for housing," said Andrew Chamberlain, Glassdoor's chief economist.

Here are the top 12 places where an average paycheck goes a very long way and the quality of life is great (even without a view of the Golden Gate).

Cost of living ratio: 38%

Median base salary: $65,000

Median home value: $172,100

Number of open jobs: 72,033

Cost of living ratio: 39%

Median base salary: $50,000

Median home value: $128,100

Number of open jobs: 13,599

Cost of living ratio: 39%

Median base salary: $54,000

Median home value: $137,500

Number of open jobs: 22,693

Cost of living ratio: 39%

Median base salary: $58,000

Median home value: $147,500

Number of open jobs: 35,639

Cost of living ratio: 40%

Median base salary: $50,800

Median home value: $128,000

Number of open jobs: 15,299

Cost of living ratio: 40%

Median base salary: $57,179

Median home value: $143,400

Number of open jobs: 32,605

Cost of living ratio: 40%

Median base salary: $56,896

Median home value: $141,900

Number of open jobs: 35,300

Cost of living ratio: 43%

Median base salary: $56,000

Median home value: $130,200

Number of open jobs: 33,090

Cost of living ratio: 44%

Median base salary: $55,000

Median home value: $125,500

Number of open jobs: 29,304

Cost of living ratio: 45%

Median base salary: $56,896

Median home value: $126,700

Number of open jobs: 46,379

Cost of living ratio: 46%

Median base salary: $52,000

Median home value: $112,100

Number of open jobs: 17,982

Cost of living ratio: 50%

Median base salary: $61,500

Median home value: $123,100

Number of open jobs: 54,808