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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Frisco: high income, low cost — a rare combo. Nothing too surprising there. Frisco earns above the national median ($146,158 — which, honestly, is lower than you'd expect here — vs $80,367) while keeping costs below average (index 102 vs 111). That combination is exceptionally rare — only 40 of 288…
#1 Ranked: Frisco — cost index 102, rent $1,751/mo, income $146,158
Frisco: high income, low cost — a rare combo
172 of 285 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. Nothing too surprising there. Frisco earns above the national median ($146,158 — which, honestly, is lower than you'd expect here — vs $80,367) while keeping costs below average (index 102 vs 111). That combination is exceptionally rare — only 40 of 288 cities share it.
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.
Frisco is one of the cheaper options here. Rent is $1,751/month, which is lower than most cities in this ranking. The cost index is 102. Income sits at $146,158. You get the picture.
(Tangentially — this is the kind of city where you can actually build equity on a median salary, which is increasingly rare.)
With that foundation in place: Mississippi — the most affordable state in America by most measures. And with some exceptions, the 1 cities we track here average a cost index of 75 and median income of $43,238. Fairly typical for a city this size. It's a clear buyer's market compared to national norms. The typical rent runs $1,283/month, which is $612 less than the national median.
What to do with this data: use the ranking as a shortlist, then dig into the city profiles for trend lines and category breakdowns. And from what we can tell, the difference between #1 and #5 is often smaller than the difference between "good on paper" and "actually fits my life." Compare your top picks with our calculator to see real take-home numbers.
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
The #2 spot goes to Allen, and the breakdown explains why. It's fine. Not great, not bad. Renters here pay $1,634/month — whether that matters depends on your situation — — 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
Cary is one of the cheaper options here. And in most cases, rent is $1,649/month, which is lower than most cities in this ranking. The cost index is 96. Income sits at $129,399. It's fine. Not great, not bad.
213,509 residents · Texas
What does daily life actually cost in Mckinney? Start with the 17% rent-to-income ratio — that's the kind of margin that lets people build savings. On the category level, Housing (index 98) is where the real savings show up, while Healthcare (index 100) is the line item most likely to surprise newcomers. Income at $120,273 and homes at $483,340 round out a profile that ranks #4 for clear reasons.
150,245 residents · Illinois
Dive into Naperville's numbers: cost index 126 (15 points above national average), rent $2,157/month, income $150,937, and a home price of $594,498. The city's cost profile isn't flat — Healthcare is the cheapest category at 105, while Housing runs 126. With 150,245 residents, it balances mid-size city convenience with manageable costs.
Frisco ranks #1 in Mississippi 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 #285) 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.
Mississippi 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.