Most affordable US cities

Affordability of housing, groceries, healthcare, transportation, and everyday expenses.

Other rankings

Overall Environment Transportation Safety Health Amenities Shops Education Quality of Life Employment

Top 25 cities

What cost of living means here

Housing above all, then groceries, utilities, insurance, transport and childcare. Residents rate this against local wages rather than in absolute terms — a city can be cheap and still score poorly if what people earn there doesn't stretch to cover it.

Why it's worth weighting

Cost of living determines what's left after the essentials, and headline salary comparisons between cities are misleading without it. A raise that moves you to a metro with double the rent is a pay cut, and the aspects people care about most — space, time, security — are usually bought with that difference.

What to check before you commit

1Compare after-tax income against real local rent, not national averages. State income tax swings this significantly.
2Include transport. A cheaper suburb that forces two cars can cost more than a pricier walkable neighbourhood.
3Check home and auto insurance quotes — they vary hugely by state and are easy to overlook.
4Look at the trend, not just the level. A cheap city with rents climbing fast may not stay cheap.

How these rankings work

Every score comes from residents rating the place they live, not from an index we calculated. People score cost of living from 0 to 10 alongside nine other life aspects, and write about what works and what doesn't. Each review is read by a person before it appears.

Cities are ranked on the mean of their cost of living scores. Any city with at least one approved review is eligible, which means a highly-rated city with two reviews can currently outrank a well-known one with five — worth keeping in mind when reading the table above.

We're early. The rankings get more reliable with every review, so if you know one of these cities, add your own.