10 Affordable US Small Towns With a Great Quality of Life
Cynthia Measom
5 min read
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If you’re ready to ditch the big-city price tag, there’s something to be said about affordable, small-town living. Believe it or not, between the lower cost of living and the slower pace, you can also find a desirable lifestyle.
To highlight affordable small towns with a great quality of life, GOBankingRates analyzed U.S. towns with populations under 15,000, focusing on factors like household median income, cost of living and livability scores. Only towns with a livability score of 86 or higher qualified, and, using national expenditure averages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and calculating mortgage costs with a 10% down payment, the study determined overall living expenses. Mortgage costs, expenditures and savings were weighted equally to rank the most affordable towns.
Kohler doesn’t offer quite as big of a gap between total yearly cost of living and household median income, but it’s still a good amount at almost $79,000.
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Mogadore, Ohio
Household median income: $80,099
Average monthly mortgage cost: $1,352
Total cost of living annually: $37,616
Leftover savings: $42,483
Livability score: 86
In Mogadore, the household median income is lower than most other small towns listed here, but the total cost of living annually makes up for it, including a mortgage payment that’s under $1,400.
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Canfield, Ohio
Household median income: $100,219
Average monthly mortgage cost: $1,813
Total cost of living annually: $43,518
Leftover savings: $56,701
Livability score: 87
The quality of life in Canfield is worth a second look. It has a household median income just over $100,000, a mortgage monthly average cost under $2,000 and leftover savings of $56,701.
The household median income in Bluffton is the lowest of the small towns on this list, but the leftover savings of $36,345 and the livability score of 91 — the highest on the list — might be worth considering.
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Huntington Woods, Michigan
Household median income: $184,815
Average monthly mortgage cost: $2,721
Total cost of living annually: $57,267
Leftover savings: $127,548
Livability score: 89
With the highest household median income on the list and one of the highest livability scores, Huntington Woods should catch your attention. However, the standout statistic for this affordable small town is the $57,267 total cost of living annually compared to the household median income of almost $185,000. That means leftover savings are above $125,000.
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Sioux Center, Iowa
Household median income: $82,050
Average monthly mortgage cost: $1,783
Total cost of living annually: $42,841
Leftover savings: $39,209
Livability score: 87
While the total cost of living annually is over half of the household median income in Sioux Center, the leftover savings amount of almost $40,000 isn’t bad at all.
Paying almost $2,700 for a mortgage, on average, is pretty steep, but when you find out the leftover savings amount is approximately $83,000 after living expenses, Wyoming, Ohio, starts looking a lot more promising.
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Pleasant Ridge, Michigan
Household median income: $164,861
Average monthly mortgage cost: $2,553
Total cost of living annually: $54,858
Leftover savings: $110,003
Livability score: 90
Pleasant Ridge, Michigan not only sounds like an idyllic small town, the numbers back it up. The livability score is one of the highest on the list at 90. And the gap between the household median income and the total cost of living annually leaves just over $110,000 in leftover savings.
Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates analyzed small towns in the United States with a population less than 15,000 as sourced from the U.S. Census American Community Survey. For each city, a number of factors were found. including: total population, total households, population ages 65 and over and median household income, all sourced from the U.S. Census American Community Survey, the cost-of-living indexes as sourced from Sperling’s BestPlaces, the average single family home value as sourced from the Zillow Home Value Index, and the livability index as sourced from AreaVibes. To qualify for this study, each city had to have all data available, have a population of under 15,000 and have a livability index of 86 or higher, representing places with the greatest quality of life. With the cost-of-living indexes and using the national average expenditure costs as sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey, the average cost of expenditures can be found for each city. With the average home value, assuming a 10% down payment and using the national average 30-year fixed mortgage rate as sourced from the Federal Reserve Economic Data, the average mortgage cost can be calculated. Using the average mortgage and expenditure costs, the total cost of living can be calculated. The average mortgage cost was scored and weighted at 1.00, the average expenditure costs were scored and weighted at 1.00, and the leftover savings was scored and weighted at 1.00. All the scores were summed and sorted to show the most affordable small towns with a great qualify of life. All data was collected on and is up to date as of Sept. 18, 2024.
Photo Disclaimer: Please note photos are for representational purposes only. As a result, some of the photos might not reflect the locations listed in this article.
