Executive transfers, living costs

Of the 30 areas to which corporations most often transfer employees, Anaheim and Santa Ana, Calif., have the highest cost-of-living composite. In both areas , a middle-management executive family of four would need an income of $45,510 to maintain a middle-level standard of living, according to Employee Transfer Corporation, a Chicago-based relocation company.

Birmingham, Ala., was ranked the least expensive, with an estimated cost of living composite of $28,407.

Income estimates are based on a composite of several indexes that analyze housing, transportation, taxation, and other living costs. The composite measures living costs based on the needs of an executive now earnings $33,500, with a nonworking spouse and two children aged 8 and 14.

The highest cost-of-living areas, after Anaheim and Santa Ana, were New York; Stamford, Conn.; Washington; Boston; and Los Angeles. The amount of income needed by the middle-management executive transferred to these cities in the fourth quarter 1980 ranged between $34,533 in Los Angeles and $39,649 in New York.

At the low end of the scale, after Birmingham, were Columbus, Ohio; Houston; Louisville, Ky.; and Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla. Income requirements in these cities ranged between $28,417 in Columbus and $28,997 in Tampa-St. Petersburg.