Recently CNN Money ran a article of the most Affordable cities for Americans to live in.(Cheapest Cities List) I always enjoy these articles because it gives great information as to median income, median home price, and an overall affordability score for each city. In my opinion I would only consider a few of them on the list as possible destinations to live at, but one of the most important factors that they mentioned in some but not all is the unemployment % for the cities. I believe that is one of the most important factors to consider when moving to a different state or area. They mention a few tidbits of employment related swings in some of the cities but come on CNN we need the actual facts not here say. See below for the cheapest mix of metro/suburban areas to live in.
Cheapest Cities List:
– Indianapolis, Indiana – 95.8 Affordability Score
– Dayton, Ohio – 8.2 Unemployment Rate
– Lakeland, Florida – 9.5% Unemployment Rate
– Modesto, CA – 17.4% Unemployment Rate
– Grand Rapids, Mich. – 100K Median Home Price
– Buffalo, NY – 66K Median Income
– Ogden, Utah – 91.1 % Affordability Score
– Syracuse, NY- 90.6 % Affordability Score
– Akron, Ohio – 96K Median Home Price
– Cincinnati, Ohio – 71K Median Income
There you have it, if you can transfer to any of these cities with an income of 60K or better you will have a ton of cash flow every month due to housing being so cheap. They even mention in one of the the descriptions that with a 20% down payment the average mortgage in one of the cities would be $400 dollars a month. Wow thats some cheap living right there. Due to taxes being so low and the affordability being so favorable you would live like a king if you have a good income. Doctors in these areas must be smiling all the way to the bank as they are one of the highest paid professions in any area.
I get the whole affordability aspect of all these cities mentioned, but in your eyes would affordability, a higher income, a bigger house would all of these make it worth while to move away from where you grew up and where most of your family is located? Its a tough trade off initially I would assume, but in the area I live in it is something I have considered more than once. High taxes, expensive housing, exorbitant cost of food, tough job market just to be near family and near the great city of NYC. Just reading this article and writing it has me thinking of a great dilemma I will face in the future in regards to establishing home ownership in a cost effective city.
The states I might consider in the future are: Ohio, Florida, North / South Carolina, Delaware.
Given the facts shown above would you move to any of these cities? What would sway you to move more than affordability?
Pic located in CNN article link provided above.
EL, we have lived all over the country and it housing does make a difference to the overall standard of living. The least expensive place we lived was in Independence, Ky and most would be the Bay Area in California (New Jersey being a close second) and while it is hard to live away from family, the payoff in stress was worth it. We were also able to travel more and visit our families. That being said, we recently reloacted to Virginia to have the best of both worlds, closer to family and a low cost of living.
Thats awesome I cant even fathom living in KY, but more power to you that you were able to find the perfect location for your family, Virgina sounds great, I wonder what the median home price is in your area?