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As everyone knows, there is an inverse relationship between affordability and many aspects of quality. Great cities with the amenities people need (good jobs, good schools, walkability, low crime, good weather, etc.) naturally tend to draw more and more people, which make them more expensive. The good values are generally found with fewer of these advantages.
Here we will attempt to draw out some exceptions to this rule. For all of the factors in our dataset where there is a clear gradient (90+% of people would agree one value is definitively better than another), we will list the lowest cost city for both buying a home and renting an apartment. Our data is divided into quintiles, so the city shown will be the most affordable in the best quintile.
| Factor | Most affordable to buy | Median home price | Most affordable to rent | Median apartment price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low Violent Crime | Parma, Ohio | $190,000 | Dothan, Alabama | $900 |
| Low Property Crime | Flint, Michigan | $80,000 | El Paso, Texas | $1,100 |
| Mild Winters | Port Arthur, Texas | $130,000 | Harlingen, Texas | $800 |
| Mild Summers | Flint, Michigan | $80,000 | Flint, Michigan | $750 |
| Low Income Taxes | Port Arthur, Texas | $130,000 | Harlingen, Texas | $800 |
| Low Property Taxes | Kokomo, Indiana | $170,000 | Not Relevant | Not Relevant |
| Outdoorsy | Detroit, Michigan | $80,000 | Sheboygan, Wisconsin | $900 |
| Low Climate Risk | Flint, Michigan | $80,000 | Flint, Michigan | $750 |
| Great Schools | Bloomington, Illinois | $225,000 | Manhattan, Kansas | $800 |
It is fascinating to see that the biggest premium by far is added by school quality: home prices almost triple from the minimum when adding that criterion, even though some other important criteria such as climate risk, weather and property crime hardly increase the minimum at all.
For those looking for cities with larger populations, we'll redo the list to include cities with 200,000+ people only. The rest of the methodology will remain exactly the same.
| Factor | Most affordable to buy | Median home price | Most affordable to rent | Median apartment price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low Violent Crime | Port St. Lucie, Florida | $375,000 | Virginia Beach, Virginia | $1,600 |
| Low Property Crime | Laredo, Texas | $250,000 | El Paso, Texas | $1,050 |
| Mild Winters | Laredo, Texas | $250,000 | Laredo, Texas | $1,200 |
| Mild Summers | Cleveland, Ohio | $125,000 | Cleveland, Ohio | $1,100 |
| Low Income Taxes | Memphis, Tennessee | $225,000 | Lubbock, Texas | $950 |
| Low Property Taxes | Montgomery, Alabama | $175,000 | Not Relevant | Not Relevant |
| Outdoorsy | Detroit, Michigan | $80,000 | Cleveland, Ohio | $1,100 |
| Low Climate Risk | Detroit, Michigan | $80,000 | Toledo, Ohio | $900 |
| Great Schools | Raleigh, North Carolina | $400,000 | Raleigh, North Carolina | $1,600 |
Again, it is painfully obvious how much more important high-quality public schools are to the average would-be homebuyer than other factors, although violent crime also adds a substantial premium.
For personalized recommendations regarding what city to live in based on all of the factors explored here and even more, take our quiz!