columbus ohio, average tag about $4-$5(before cut)
1 bedroom apt in the ghetto about $300/month
typical midwest weather, we get some snow and ice but not much, just cold mostly in winter
city is flat and easy to get around
Like most cities the messengers in columbus are going thru a contraction phase, 3 years ago we had about 40 messengers, now weve got about 20 or so. The wannabe's got forced out or put out of business by the pro's and times got a little tougher due to competition with email and electronic court filings. Fuel prices may reverse this pretty soon I think.
Oh ya, one other thing, if your working thru a broker or courier company as an IC and they charge less than $3 per tag they are probably breaking the law. They can be prosecuted under the express package statute by the US postal service.