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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
High income and low costs rarely coexist — but Frisco pulls it off. At $146,158 median household income and a 102 cost index, residents enjoy purchasing power that 98% exceeds the national average. We found this pattern across 284 cities in Iowa using 2026 data.
#1 Ranked: Frisco — cost index 102, rent $1,751/mo, income $146,158
Frisco: high income, low cost — a rare combo
171 of 284 cities come in below the national cost-of-living average of 111
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
High income and low costs rarely coexist — but Frisco pulls it off. At $146,158 median household income and a 102 cost index, residents enjoy purchasing power that 98% exceeds the national average. We found this pattern across 284 cities in Iowa using 2026 data.
Frisco: high income, low cost — a rare combo. Frisco earns above the national median ($146,158 vs $80,367) while keeping costs below average (index 102 vs 111). That combination is exceptionally rare — only 40 of 288 cities share it.
Why Frisco ranks #1: the numbers tell a clear story. At 102 on the cost index, residents save roughly 9% less than the typical American. Rent sits at $1,751/month while the median household pulls in $146,158/year. The Healthcare category is particularly strong at 100, though Housing (102) lags behind. Home prices average $653,858 — $186,488 above the national median.
If you're ready to act on this, three things to do next: 1) Click into the city pages for the top 3 and check rent trends — direction matters more than the snapshot. 2) Run your income through the salary calculator for a personalized cost comparison. 3) Compare your top two picks head-to-head on our comparison page. The data is here; the decision is yours.
Frisco earns above the national median ($146,158 vs $80,367) while keeping costs below average (index 102 vs 111). That combination is exceptionally rare — only 40 of 288 cities share it.
Rent ranges from $1,751/mo in Frisco to $2,964/mo in Miami — a monthly difference of $1,213, or $14,556 per year.
Frisco (index 102) and Miami (index 173) sit 71 points apart on the cost index — proof that Iowa is far from monolithic in affordability.
225,007 residents · Texas
Why Frisco ranks #1: the numbers tell a clear story. At 102 on the cost index, residents save roughly 9% less than the typical American. Rent sits at $1,751/month while the median household pulls in $146,158/year. The Healthcare category is particularly strong at 100, though Housing (102) lags behind. Home prices average $653,858 — $186,488 above the national median.
111,620 residents · Texas
Allen earns its position at #2 through a combination that's hard to replicate. The 95 cost index sits 16 points below the national baseline, and the $129,130 median income means purchasing power here is genuinely above average. Homes list at $497,016 — $29,646 above the national median, reflecting the local market dynamics. On the cost side, Housing leads the way at 95, while Healthcare trails at 99.
180,010 residents · North Carolina
What does daily life actually cost in Cary? Start with the 15% rent-to-income ratio — that's the kind of margin that lets people build savings. On the category level, Housing (index 96) is where the real savings show up, while Healthcare (index 99) is the line item most likely to surprise newcomers. Income at $129,399 — though some people might weigh that differently — and homes at $620,401 round out a profile that ranks #3 for clear reasons.
213,509 residents · Texas
A closer look at Mckinney: the cost index of 98 — for better or worse — breaks down to a Housing index of 98 (strongest category) and a Healthcare index of 100 (weakest). Median rent is $1,675/month — 12% below the national median — while household income sits at $120,273, meaning locals spend about 17% of income on rent. That's a healthy margin by any standard.
150,245 residents · Illinois
The numbers for Naperville are straightforward: 126 on the cost index, $2,157/month — for better or worse — rent, $150,937 income. Not the most exciting entry in the list, but solid. Moving on.
Frisco ranks #1 in Iowa for this analysis with a cost index of 102 and median income of $146,158.
Our cost of living index uses real Zillow rent data as the foundation, indexed to 100 (national median). Sub-categories (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare) are derived from the overall index with regional adjustments. Data is updated monthly.
Frisco (ranked #1) has a cost index of 102 and rent of $1,751/mo, while Miami (ranked #284) has a cost index of 173 and rent of $2,964/mo — a 71-point difference in cost of living.
City data is refreshed monthly from Census Bureau population estimates, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary data, and Tax Foundation tax rates. Last updated: 2026.
The median 1-bedroom rent in Frisco is $1,751/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $144 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Frisco is $653,858, which is 4.5× the local median income. It's on the edge of affordability for median-income households. The national median home price is $467,370.
Iowa has a 0% state income tax rate — one of the states with no income tax. Combined state and local sales tax averages 8.19%, and the effective property tax rate is 1.6%.
This ranking was generated using data current as of early 2026. Population and income data comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (5-year estimates). Rent and home price data is from Zillow's monthly releases. Tax rates are from the Tax Foundation's 2025 edition. Rankings are refreshed monthly.