@dump_stack @thor

Well apart from being touristic all middle class from the "actual" Caucasus (republics down in south) perceive it as the closest large city and buy property there as an investment, or to move. This might bump prices up but if you check Nalchik or Elista there's no difference.

Now regarding salaries, this is a list of jobs from a popular "Magnit" network. People I talked to earned ~15k at "salesman" position, which may be due to taxes or some other kind of employee tricks.