Raleigh, which is no stranger to the top of various "best of" lists, just misses the top 10 of Forbes.com list of the Most Affordable Cities in America.

The magazine's online ranking uses factors including the current median asking price of homes, median salaries of workers with bachelor's degrees or higher, a cost of living index from Moody's Economy.com and the latest unemployment rates. Omaha, Neb., is No. 1, followed by Buffalo, N.Y., Detroit, Indianapolis and Cincinnati.

Raleigh comes in at No. 11. Not to worry, the new year is young and there will be plenty more lists to brag about. Economic recruiters often use such rankings when they're marketing this region to potential employers and residents.

But one small beef: Does Forbes really need to use a photo of snowy Raleigh for its online slideshow? It's timely, no question, but hardly a realistic representation of the city's climate.

Read the full Forbes report here.

Despite losing nearly $2 billion of his net worth, Jim Goodnight remains the richest person in North Carolina and held on to the No. 33 spot in the Forbes magazine list of the 400 richest Americans.

Goodnight's net worth of $6.8 billion was down from $8.7 billion last year, Forbes reported. Goodnight, 66, is co-founder and CEO of SAS Institute, the Cary-based company that is the world's largest privately owned software maker.

John Sall, who co-founded SAS in 1976, also saw his ranking drop a bit, to No. 91 from No. 84 last year. His net worth declined to $3.4 billion from $4.4 billion.

The only other Tar Heel on the Forbes list was Clemmie Spangler Jr. of Charlotte, with a net worth of $1.65 billion, down from $2 billion last year. He is ranked No. 212 on the Forbes list.

Microsoft's Bill Gates topped the list, followed by investor Warren Buffett and Oracle CEO Lawrence Ellison.

See the full list here.