Loading
Assembling your view…
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
| # | City | Cost Index | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toledo Ohio | 83 | View → |
| 2 | Detroit Michigan | 84 | View → |
| 3 | Akron Ohio | 84 | View → |
| 4 | Jackson Mississippi | 84 | View → |
| 5 | Shreveport Louisiana | 85 | View → |
| 6 | Dayton Ohio | 85 | View → |
| 7 | Evansville Indiana | 85 | View → |
| 8 | Memphis Tennessee | 86 | View → |
| 9 | Rockford Illinois | 86 | View → |
| 10 | Wichita Kansas | 87 | View → |
| 11 | Cleveland Ohio | 87 | View → |
| 12 | Birmingham Alabama | 87 | View → |
| 13 | Macon Georgia | 87 | View → |
| 14 | Topeka Kansas | 87 | View → |
| 15 | Des Moines Iowa | 88 | View → |
| 16 | Montgomery Alabama | 88 | View → |
| 17 | Cedar Rapids Iowa | 88 | View → |
| 18 | Beaumont Texas | 88 | View → |
| 19 | Lansing Michigan | 88 | View → |
| 20 | Oklahoma City Oklahoma | 89 | View → |
| 21 | Tulsa Oklahoma | 89 | View → |
| 22 | St Louis Missouri | 89 | View → |
| 23 | Little Rock Arkansas | 89 | View → |
| 24 | Amarillo Texas | 89 | View → |
| 25 | Augusta Georgia | 89 | View → |
Toledo, Ohio is the most affordable city in our database with a cost of living index of 83 (national average is 100). Median rent is $1,060/month.
City affordability is measured by the cost of living index — a composite score covering housing (30%), food (15%), transportation (10%), utilities (10%), and healthcare (10%). An index below 100 means cheaper than the national average.
Not always. Many affordable Midwest and Southern cities offer strong median incomes relative to their low cost of living, creating excellent value. Cities like Toledo and Detroit show median incomes comparable to coastal cities at a fraction of the cost.
The most affordable cities are concentrated in the Midwest (Oklahoma, Kansas, Indiana) and South (Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi). No-income-tax states like Texas and Tennessee offer additional savings beyond just housing costs.