Tamworth, for all its doubtless charm, can hardly be uttered in the same breath.

And yet a damning new report has found the dream of home ownership in the Country Music Capital is less attainable than in any of those iconic cities.

The report, compiled by US-based public policy group Demographia, highlights two inescapable truths for Tamworth.

One: we have a housing affordability crisis on our hands, two: the city’s median income is worryingly low.

Raking in just $56,000 a year, Tamworth’s median income household has a better chance of cracking a walnut with a hole punch than cracking into the first home buyer’s market.

That our median income figure lags behind less “glamorous” centres like Dubbo and Bathurst should be a source of grave concern for us all.

The city’s reliance on unskilled labour – think food processing, farm and manufacturing workers – has forced down both median incomes and housing affordability.

Tamworth mayor Col Murray is bang-on when he says one of council’s key priorities must be to attract higher- paying jobs to town.

Higher incomes don’t just equate to greater housing affordability, they make businesses and services more viable.

The incursion of mining into the district and the arrival of the National Broadband Network (NBN) present a rare opportunity to fatten up the average pay packet.

But attracting professionals to town is about more than providing jobs.

Families want quality services and infrastructure.

While a gleaming new hospital will help, we must continue to push for more affordable air travel, better roads, schools, sporting and cultural facilities.

And if the state government really is fair dinkum about decentralisation, it would ensure we had a greater slice of the public service pie.

We should never forget how blessed we are to live in such a connected and comfortable community.

But unless we can rein in housing affordability, the great Australian dream will remain just that for many.