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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Frisco: high income, low cost — a rare combo. Pretty standard for this type of city. Frisco earns above the national median ($146,158 — though some people might weigh that differently — vs $80,367) while keeping costs below average (index 102 vs 111). That combination is exceptionally rare — only 4…
225,007 residents · Texas
Here's Frisco by the numbers — and there's a lot to like (and a little to watch). Cost index: 102. Rent: $1,751/month — which, honestly, is lower than you'd expect here — . Income: $146,158/year. Home price: $653,858. Population: 225,007. The strongest category is Healthcare at 100; the most expensive is Housing at 102. Translate that rent to annual numbers, and residents are saving renters $1,728 per year vs. the national median. That's not a marginal difference — it reshapes your monthly budget.
111,620 residents · Texas
The #2 spot goes to Allen, and the breakdown explains why. Renters here pay $1,634/month — saving renters $3,132 per year compared to the national average. Meanwhile, Housing is the standout at index 95, keeping costs manageable. The weak spot? Healthcare at 99. At a 15% rent-to-income ratio, there's genuine breathing room in the average household budget.
180,010 residents · North Carolina
Why Cary ranks #3: the numbers tell a clear story. And as a general rule, at 96 on the cost index, residents save roughly 15% less than the typical American. Rent sits at $1,649/month while the median household pulls in $129,399/year. The Housing category is particularly strong at 96, though Healthcare (99) lags behind. Home prices average $620,401 — $153,031 above the national median (we double-checked this one).
213,509 residents · Texas
A closer look at Mckinney: the cost index of 98 — which, honestly, is lower than you'd expect here — 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
Why Naperville ranks #5: the numbers tell a clear story. At 126 on the cost index, residents spend roughly 15% more than the typical American. Rent sits at $2,157/month while the median household pulls in $150,937/year. The Healthcare category is particularly strong at 105, though Housing (126) lags behind. Home prices average $594,498 — $127,128 above the national median (and that gap widens if you factor in state taxes).
#1 Ranked: Frisco — cost index 102, rent $1,751/mo, income $146,158
Frisco: high income, low cost — a rare combo
173 of 282 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
Frisco: high income, low cost — a rare combo. Pretty standard for this type of city. Frisco earns above the national median ($146,158 — though some people might weigh that differently — vs $80,367) while keeping costs below average (index 102 vs 111). That combination is exceptionally rare — only 40 of 288 cities share it. You get the picture.
Frisco breaks the usual trade-off between income and cost of living. Most affordable cities pay less — but Frisco delivers a median household income of $146,158 (82% above the national median) while keeping costs 9 points below national average. That's a rare combination shared by only 40 of the 288 cities we track (that's pre-tax, of course).
The #1 spot goes to Frisco, and the breakdown explains why. Renters here pay $1,751/month — saving renters $1,728 per year compared to the national average. Meanwhile, Healthcare is the standout at index 100, keeping costs manageable. The weak spot? Housing at 102. At a 14% rent-to-income ratio, there's genuine breathing room in the average household budget. There's an argument to be made — and I think the data supports it — that the cities getting all the attention right now are exactly the wrong places to move. The spotlight drives migration, migration drives demand, demand drives costs, and eventually the value proposition disappears. Meanwhile, cities like this one keep quietly being affordable, and the people who find them early are the ones who benefit most.
Still, the overall picture holds: Massachusetts — Boston's biotech boom and old-money pricing. The 4 cities we track here average a cost index of 165 and median income of $91,243. Costs run above the national baseline — but pockets of real value exist if you know where to look. The typical rent runs $2,819/month, which is $924 more than the national median. One to watch.
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. And most of the time, 2) Run your income through the salary calculator for a personalized cost comparison. That alone makes it worth considering. 3) Compare your top two picks head-to-head on our comparison page. The data is here; the decision is yours (that's pre-tax, of course).
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 Massachusetts is far from monolithic in affordability.
Frisco ranks #1 in Massachusetts 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 #282) 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.
Massachusetts 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.