3 Cheapest Big Cities in America
Small towns don’t have a monopoly on low living costs.
Small towns don’t have a monopoly on low living costs. In our search for the cheapest places to live in the U.S., we found three big cities that rank surprisingly high for affordability. Is one of these sizable cities right for you?
Indianapolis
City Population: 853,173
Cost of Living: 16.2% below U.S. average
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Median Household Income: $41,987 (U.S.: $53,889)
Median Home Value: $118,300 (U.S.: $178,600)
Average Monthly Rent: $690 (U.S.: $1,004)
Unemployment Rate: 4.0% (U.S.: 4.9%)
Highlight: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Memphis
City Population: 655,770
Cost of Living: 17.0% below U.S. average
Median Household Income: $36,445 (U.S.: $53,889)
Median Home Value: $94,000 (U.S.: $178,600)
Average Monthly Rent: $685 (U.S.: $1,004)
Unemployment Rate: 5.3% (U.S.: 4.9%)
Highlight: Graceland
Oklahoma City
City Population: 631,346
Cost of Living: 15.5% below U.S. average
Median Household Income: $47,779 (U.S.: $53,889)
Median Home Value: $138,600 (U.S.: $178,600)
Average Monthly Rent: $818 (U.S.: $1,004)
Unemployment Rate: 4.2% (U.S.: 4.9%)
Highlight: NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder
See the full list of the cheapest U.S. cities to live in.
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Dan is a veteran of MarketWatch, CBS MoneyWatch, SmartMoney, InvestorPlace, DailyFinance and others, before joining Kiplinger in 2016. He has written for The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Consumer Reports and his stories have appeared in the New York Daily News, Investor's Business Daily and more. Dan reported from the New York Stock Exchange floor as a senior writer at AOL's DailyFinance.
Once upon a time, he worked for Spy magazine and Time Inc., and contributed to Maxim when lad mags were a thing.
Dan holds a bachelor's degree from Oberlin College and a master's degree from Columbia University.
Disclosure: Dan does not trade individual stocks or securities. He is eternally long the U.S equity market, primarily through tax-advantaged accounts.