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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Think you know which city wins? The data might disagree. Frisco: high income, low cost — a rare combo. 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 exceptio…
Think you know which city wins? The data might disagree. Frisco: high income, low cost — a rare combo. 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. That's a margin of safety most budgets don't have.
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 285 cities in New Hampshire using 2026 data.
At $1,751/month for rent and a cost index of 102, Frisco is pretty much what you'd expect from a mid-size city in this part of the country. Income is $146,158. That tracks (not adjusted for inflation, but still telling).
And here's the trade-off: The 1 cities we track in New Hampshire paint a surprisingly balanced picture. Average cost index: 115. Median rent: $1,976/month. Household income: $77,415. New Hampshire is known for no income tax in a traditionally expensive region — and the data backs that reputation with some caveats.
What to do with this data: use the ranking as a shortlist, then dig into the city profiles for trend lines and category breakdowns. 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.
#1 Ranked: Frisco — cost index 102, rent $1,751/mo, income $146,158
Frisco: high income, low cost — a rare combo
173 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
225,007 residents · Texas
A closer look at Frisco: the cost index of 102 breaks down to a Healthcare index of 100 (strongest category) and a Housing index of 102 (weakest). Median rent is $1,751/month — 8% below the national median — while household income sits at $146,158, meaning locals spend about 14% of income on rent. That's a healthy margin by any standard (and that gap widens if you factor in state taxes).
111,620 residents · Texas
Here's Allen by the numbers — and there's a lot to like (and a little to watch). Cost index: 95. Rent: $1,634/month. Income: $129,130/year. Home price: $497,016. Population: 111,620. The strongest category is Housing at 95; the most expensive is Healthcare at 99. Translate that rent to annual numbers, and residents are saving renters $3,132 per year vs. the national median. That's a spread that makes moving costs look trivial.
180,010 residents · North Carolina
A closer look at Cary: the cost index of 96 breaks down to a Housing index of 96 (strongest category) and a Healthcare index of 99 (weakest). Median rent is $1,649/month — 13% below the national median — while household income sits at $129,399, meaning locals spend about 15% of income on rent. That's a healthy margin by any standard.
213,509 residents · Texas
The #4 spot goes to Mckinney, and the breakdown explains why. And as far as the data shows, take it or leave it — the data is what it is. Renters here pay $1,675/month — we had to double-check this one — — saving renters $2,640 per year compared to the national average. Meanwhile, Housing is the standout at index 98, keeping costs manageable. The weak spot? Healthcare at 100. At a 17% rent-to-income ratio, there's genuine breathing room in the average household budget (not adjusted for inflation, but still telling).
150,245 residents · Illinois
The #5 spot goes to Naperville, and the breakdown explains why. Renters here pay $2,157/month — for better or worse — — costing renters $3,144 more per year compared to the national average. Meanwhile, Healthcare is the standout at index 105, keeping costs manageable. The weak spot? Housing at 126. At a 17% rent-to-income ratio, there's genuine breathing room in the average household budget.
We pull all cities outside New Hampshire and rank them by value ratio (income ÷ cost index). Cities offering lower costs or higher income than New Hampshire's averages surface first. Population and rent data provide additional context. All data is sourced from federal agencies and verified research institutions. Cost of living indices are normalized to 100 (national median) using Zillow rent as the primary signal, with sub-category adjustments derived from regional BLS price data. Rankings are updated monthly as new data is released.
Frisco ranks #1 in New Hampshire 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.
New Hampshire 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.