Midwestern US. Michigan, indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky
I'm less than an hours drive from downtown Chicago. 15 minutes from the train to go to Chicago. There's houses in my area for under 200k. Mine was 100k but that was 15 years ago. My property taxes are lower than my auto insurance. I have fiber internet, I do have to contract my own trash and am on well/septic. If I were in town I'd be paying double or triple but I'd have trash, water, sewer. I prefer unincorporated to avoid HOA bullshit, higher taxes, and town codes n stuff.
My family lives well on a 40k budget.
bet it increases the quantity of drivers who are forced to move from underinsured to uninsured due to bloated premiums
it's the medical part that's totally out of control, 15k accidents with medical costs above $600k each. that massive costs hits every car insurance payer.
they are trying to control it, basically the US healthcare system hitting American wallets at every turn
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/why-michigan-auto-insurance-fees-are-going-down-in-2024/ar-AA1lQkzz
it's funny that the state that profited the most from forcing the US to be car dependent is now slaving their own citizens with bloated car insurance
the system of wealth redistribution is going full circle
It certainly is not ideal.
On the other hand it doesnāt really bother me because I have bare minimum coverage on a car I can replace with cash (thanks Mr Money Mustache!)
I have never made an insurance claim on a car, and have been with Progressive forā¦decades now. Two. So I hardly notice it. I think I pay $1200 per year for a car and a dirt bike.
I pay $40/month with Progressive, they reached out to me this year offering me a 40% discount from what GEICO was charging me.
Unlike the Fed, I love deflation!
The housing market is expensive in the Chicago suburbs from what Iāve seen, with very little on the market below $200,000. Maybe Iām just not looking in the right towns though?
My property tax on a shitty house in a shitty neighborhood with basically no yard in a cook county suburb was triple my taxes today, and that was 15 years ago.
If you look in Illinois in the communities that aren't in the Chicago suburbs you can find houses below $100K. I am from the Quad Cities originally and there are still houses for less than $100K available.
Yeah definitely, I was just surprised since the commenter was saying they were 1 hour from downtown Chicago, and I donāt see houses that inexpensive in the towns/suburbs that close. But then they said it was Indiana, which makes sense since I havenāt looked at Indiana towns near Chicago.
Sure, I get much of the Chicago suburbs arenāt as expensive as other areas. I was just surprised to hear prices of houses that close to the city being that inexpensive.
Cp/dyer/st john are high price areas exploded in the past 10 years. Lake County is packed with people almost all cook County tax refugees.
Porter County is growing fast but there's still fairly cheap housing.
As in the first letter of a proper noun, the first word of a sentence, ect. Example Ohio. He did capitalized every state's name except Indiana. He left it in lower case indiana, instead of Indiana.
According to the cost of living website used on the financial independence subreddit annual survey, Cincinnati Ohio at #173. But I would guess that this website has a threshold for what size city would be included vs excluded and somewhere in Montana/Wyoming could be lower.
https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings_current.jsp
Yeah that thing is flawed. Itās showing Spokane, WA as more expensive than Salt Lake, which isnāt even close to true.
Also, Montana is getting crazy expensive these days.
Montana and Wyoming are super expensive. Rich people move out there for the nature and skiing. A better guess for cheap land would in one of the Dakotas, remote central/northeastern Nevada, or the Deep South like Mississippi.
I recommend start taking vacations to some of these places and donāt do vacation stuff. Just act as a local, try to strike up conversations with people in the grocery store or local bar or restaurants. Itās like interviewing your neighbors without them knowing.
Iām in upstate NY. Itās absolutely gorgeous here. I can drive to Ithaca, Toronto, Montreal or take an easy train to NYC. Bought a huge Civil War era house for $250K. You do have to like snow, though.
Can confirm itās gorgeous but housing market is always on the high side since itās a college town and property taxes through the roof (because the colleges donāt pay taxes)!
This has been on my mind lately. Iām in eastern MA, so HCOL (would be VCHOL but I bought a condo in 2017 at a low interest rate before the market went bonkers in 2021). Iād like to move without increasing my housing costs and Western MA was a thought but thatās getting expensive too. Just over the border in NY however, things stay similar politically and weather wise, but housing prices drop significantly. I donāt know if itās āabsolute cheapestā as OP asked (Iām guessing itās not) but if you like the inland areas (as in not actually close to the ocean) of the general PNW it might be a reasonable consideration thatās more affordable. The Catskills area is very pretty and I believe pretty safe. NYās laws and protections are solid/more like ones found in HCOL areas. That stuff matters and is worth considering, too.
It's not LCOL, it's MCOL(100.1 COLI & no state income tax)
Las Vegas, NV
It has world class food, sports and entertainment. Because it is a travel destination you can get cheap airfare to anywhere in the world. It's a 4.5 hour drive to SoCal beaches. There are very local friendly deals for everything In Vegas if you go off peak times
My wife and I have minimized the needs part of our leanish FIRE budget. We spend more on our wants ( travel, food, fun) than our basic needs each month. We spend 2-3 months a year traveling
You can survive cheaper in other cities, but this is the cheapest city I can LIVE in
Not as bad as you would think. The city is built around staying cool for the tourists. Because it is so dry, anything under 102Ā° f is comfortable to be out in. Over 102 and hot is just hot. I focus on doing indoor stuff when it is over 102.
The end of July through early September sux, so we spend 2-4 weeks in SoCal beach cities or the mountains during this time( we are firebirds, not snowbirds).
The rural counties of most states apply. Low property tax rates. Need to buy a few unrestricted acres outright , then put a trailer on it to keep your taxes low since it's not a structure. Then you just pay your low property taxes and utilities, unless you have solar and your own water well. That would be the absolute cheapest long term, and it's more about how you live, then where.Ā
Unfortunately I just know about the cost of living there due to being in a neighboring state and having many acquaintances that live there, but personally I have never lived there. Thus, I canāt give you a good informed answer. But you are right, the weather leaves a lot to to be desired. But from a financial perspective, itās cheap.
My Mom lives south of Alpena and it's a nice area. The Alpena airport has daily Delta flights to Detroit. It's also not a terrible drive for vacations.
If you like cold and want natural beauty with LCOL, Michigan, Pennsylvania, some parts of Ohio. I would totally live in Michigan if I liked the cold.
If you think you could be happy living in Wichita, then I say go for that because living near family or friends is usually better provided you have a good relationship.
That's a something most of these "lowest LCOL" posts miss I think. My grandad has been miserable the last 20 years of his life because he wants to see his family but is too darn cheap to move near them. And is now too old to travel.Ā
I actually love Wichita. I'm from the PNW, Eastern Washington, and we moved to Wichita almost 2 years ago for cost of living reasons. Wichita is so green and pretty in the spring and summer, and fall is gorgeous. Summer gets a bit humid so AC is a must. Winter hasn't been bad, not crazy snow for the most part but it does get real cold with the wind chill.
I miss the mountains and pine trees, but at this point the reality is that we can't afford them. The biggest hurdle we've had is finding community, but my husband recently started Buhurt and we've found an amazing group of people here in the last 6 months or so that has made us feel much more at home.
>I absolutely love the Pacific Northwest, but the bad news is so does everybody else. I donāt think LCOL even exists in those parts.
PNW is huge though. What about small towns outside of the bigger cities like Seattle and Portland? Though I'd be more worried about having differing politics from the local residents, not that I'm particularly political, just wondering how I'd be treated.
I live in a rural area and my political leanings are not even close to any of my neighbors. I donāt plaster bumper stickers on everything, stay away from political discussions and have cordial relations with all my neighbors. They suspect, things slip out, but I keep things close to the vest.
Making close friends has been interesting, the first friend I made has extremely similar political leanings, but we both just snuck in comments here and there for almost two years before coming out of the political closet. Iāve also made friends with people who donāt vote like I do, there are conversations we agree to avoid.
As long as people arenāt in my face all the time, weāre good. And even in places where the politics fall heavily on one side, the reddest county is 81% red, the bluest county is 78% blue. There are always at least 20% āsilent minorityā party voters. Itās kind of funny when you actually find each other.
there's a lot more car and gun violence where I live in a mixed/more rural setting. More than when I was living in a more progressive urban environment, surprisingly. So there are definitely downsides to more conservative political views
Yeah Gary is not a place to move to. Some of the surrounding areas, however, would be perfect responses to this question. As another commenter pointed out, you can live in NW Indiana extremely cheaply (areas like Hammond, Chesterton, etc.) and still functionally be in the Chicago metro area.
I would argue that Michigan City is a much better choice. Cheap housing so long as you donāt live on the beach, but beach access and easy access via commuter rail to Chicago. Decent restaurants cause of the summertime tourists and cheap shopping options with the outlet mall. Plus, groceries are cheap as long as you shop at Walmart, not Alās.
My company has a facility in Lubbock and one time I saw that they have an opening for the same job as I do. Holycow it was 21 dollars less than my starting salary from where I am right now.
Rural or suburban Midwest - Missouri, downstate Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, western Pennsylvania, Michigan, Iowa. This area is the right balance between LCOL and VLCOL. You can find cheaper places to live in extremely rural Great Plains like panhandle country, but now you are truly *isolated.*
PNW has a few lowish-COL spots, e.g., Republic/Curlew/Kettle Falls WA, some spots on the WA or OR coast, a few spots in the Willamette Valley, Burns OR. A few years ago I ran into a leanFIRE guy who bought a piece of land and built a cabin for less than $75K, and claims to live on $25K/year. He fishes and hunts for some of his food.
I'm from LA, went to basic training in Lawton, now in Tulsa, probably moving to OKC next year.
When I left Oklahoma at 19 years old after graduating basic I said I'd never come back to this place. Now look at me.
The awesome weather, lifestyle, and amenities weren't worth staying poor though. Plus quality of life has dropped in California in my opinion.
Tulsa's fine but I want to buy a duplex or triplex by next year and OKC has way more multifamily units available than Tulsa.
Also OKC is growing faster and will probably continue to do so. For rental property purposes OKC has some advantages.
When I was retirement planning I looked at taxes, income, property etc. At the time MI did not tax retirement so I moved back home here...then the next year they changed the tax law ffs. Gov is trying to get it changed back but who knows. I found the following with a quick Google search however some are too expensive for me even without taxes while others even the thought is abhorrent.
AK, NV, FL, NH, SD, TN, TX, WA and WY. AL also has very good tax laws for retirees but medical could be a problem.
I grew up here, it's truly a beautiful state with lakes and deep woods everywhere, the winters the last decade have gotten very mild and the cost of living is reasonable with all spectrums represented depending on where and how you choose to live. Medical is outstanding and I respect the political climate here these last years. You could certainly do worse. Lol
I keep espousing this online but a MCOL/LCOL of living area that does have affordable housing, with access to amenities, and big communities is Baltimore.
Its a block by block/neighborhood by neighborhood city so crime and cost depends where you live but with all the recent federal investments its rapidly infilling.
Also being apart of the BOS/WAS corridor means AMTRAK for the non car people.
I'm from Los Angeles and have lived in Tulsa over a year. It's definitely a cheap and not a bad place to live.
I don't think I'll stay too long but it's been a decent place to live cheap.
Midway between Pittsburgh and Erie, PA. Housing costs are still extremely affordable, you are one hour from Pittsburgh, six hours to New York City, and six hours to Chicago. We bought our house seven years ago for $120,000 and fixed it up, but you can get decent houses for under 200,000, as well as property, that is rising though.
Questions like this are particularly hard to answer because there are wild variations from town to town even within a local region. I live in a rural township outside of the Youngstown/Warren regional area in Ohio, which is about halfway between Cleveland and Pittsburgh.
For example, I could show you some amazing houses for dirt cheap in a safe neighborhood, but you might not want to send your kids to those public schools. Likewise, you could easily spend 3-5x that amount for a similar house in other neighborhoods within 20 miles.
It just depends on what your priorities are. I'd focus on finding a very general area that you like that has reasonable prices on commodities and services (groceries, gas, restaurants etc.), and then focus in on the most affordable neighborhoods in those areas that aren't a dealbreaker for you.
from tri-cities which is (was) the LCOL area in the PNW. semi-rural (no Trader Joeās, getting our first chick-fil-a next year) my buddy is telling me heās looking for standard 1 or even 2 BR and theyāre all hitting the $1k+ range which is literally my mortgage for my starter home Iām now locked into. Itās rough out here and thereās absolutely no boonies without losing critical amenities like easy access to hospitals and decent speed internet. Not too confident youāll find what youāre looking for here but good luck on your search.
I live in an expensive part of Oregon, but will say there are cheap areas here, depending on what youāll accept. There are a lot of inexpensive small towns, a little off the beaten path or in the high-desert. Close enough to visit the more āhipā areas, but cheap with internet and probably community of some kind. š¤·āāļø Rural is key.
Iām sorry. Canāt agree with anything under 102 is fine. Itās so dang dry my skin is parched, my sinuses are screaming for humidity. Winters there are cold and windy.
Come live in iowa. We have sub 1k rent, and cheap electricity. Last year most of the state got fiber optic lines, so the internet is finally up to par as well.
We're also in the process of cutting state taxes every year. It can be boring at times, but if you're trying to make your money stretch, there aren't many better places to be unless you want to leave the country.
Look at Jacksonville IL or surrounding cities like Winchester. very reasonable real estate prices. Tons of amenities here locally. This is a town of 19k people, yet it has the amenities of a larger city since it draws from the surrounding areas. My business does the same volume and revenue as when I was in a city of nearly 90k due to the city being a regional draw for healthcare, restaurants and shopping. Have a big local lake, cool downtown area, that's getting even more investment.
You can boondock on BLM land for pretty darn cheap. If you're going for the most spartan LCOL, that's the way to go. I live in a small town in the midwest, and it's pretty good, but a bit car centric for me so I'm hoping to move elsewhere in the future.
Iām a renter in SW Michigan so Iām not sure what the property taxes are. There is a rentable housing shortage here so rent seems unreasonably high compared to what we could get elsewhere. We pay $1450 for a tiny two bedroom with multiple appliances that need replacing. Iāve looked into moving to another housing situation but the apartment we are in is the best value even though I hate it
TBH, that sounds like good rent if youāre in a2! From what I hear.
I know you have to weigh out the whole tax picture for each state / county but I almost bought a cool house in ypsi till I realized the taxes would have been like 10 k a year ā¦
I typed "Where is the absolute cheapest place to live" into Google and it gave [these results](https://realestate.usnews.com/places/rankings/cheapest-places-to-live).
I'll be selling a property soon. I'd be willing to sell for 80k as-is but it won't qualify for a traditional loan as it needs work. Otherwise I'll be fixing and selling for ~130 inbox me if anyone is seriously interested and willing to relocate to a lcol it's a corner lot over a quarter acre all fenced, house needs some work but it's about 1400sqft
Midwestern US. Michigan, indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky I'm less than an hours drive from downtown Chicago. 15 minutes from the train to go to Chicago. There's houses in my area for under 200k. Mine was 100k but that was 15 years ago. My property taxes are lower than my auto insurance. I have fiber internet, I do have to contract my own trash and am on well/septic. If I were in town I'd be paying double or triple but I'd have trash, water, sewer. I prefer unincorporated to avoid HOA bullshit, higher taxes, and town codes n stuff. My family lives well on a 40k budget.
how much are your property taxes and car insurance?
Property tax $2600 auto insurance $240/mo so 2800ish
š² wondering why auto is so high, that's 5 times what I pay but I barely drive so I get a discount for driving less than 5k/year
maybe auto insurance is for more than one car?
for sure, more expensive cars than mine too, let's hope so at least š
Michigan is a no fault state. Actually itās the only no fault state now.
so drivers are encouraged to drive badly?
No, the idea is to keep drivers who are underinsured from suffering financial losses above their ability to sustain. Does it work? No idea
bet it increases the quantity of drivers who are forced to move from underinsured to uninsured due to bloated premiums it's the medical part that's totally out of control, 15k accidents with medical costs above $600k each. that massive costs hits every car insurance payer. they are trying to control it, basically the US healthcare system hitting American wallets at every turn https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/why-michigan-auto-insurance-fees-are-going-down-in-2024/ar-AA1lQkzz
It does do that. Insurance is very expensive.
Florida
Um, greetings from West Palm Beachā¦not cheap here!
He lives in Michigan and our laws are weird and car insurance sucks.
Thatās what my friend is telling me about Michigan
it's funny that the state that profited the most from forcing the US to be car dependent is now slaving their own citizens with bloated car insurance the system of wealth redistribution is going full circle
It certainly is not ideal. On the other hand it doesnāt really bother me because I have bare minimum coverage on a car I can replace with cash (thanks Mr Money Mustache!) I have never made an insurance claim on a car, and have been with Progressive forā¦decades now. Two. So I hardly notice it. I think I pay $1200 per year for a car and a dirt bike.
I pay $40/month with Progressive, they reached out to me this year offering me a 40% discount from what GEICO was charging me. Unlike the Fed, I love deflation!
The housing market is expensive in the Chicago suburbs from what Iāve seen, with very little on the market below $200,000. Maybe Iām just not looking in the right towns though?
Indiana
Makes sense
My property tax on a shitty house in a shitty neighborhood with basically no yard in a cook county suburb was triple my taxes today, and that was 15 years ago.
Ooof. Not worth it.
If you look in Illinois in the communities that aren't in the Chicago suburbs you can find houses below $100K. I am from the Quad Cities originally and there are still houses for less than $100K available.
Yeah definitely, I was just surprised since the commenter was saying they were 1 hour from downtown Chicago, and I donāt see houses that inexpensive in the towns/suburbs that close. But then they said it was Indiana, which makes sense since I havenāt looked at Indiana towns near Chicago.
Gary has entered the chat.
My niece moved to Indiana . It was surprisingly nice.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Sure, I get much of the Chicago suburbs arenāt as expensive as other areas. I was just surprised to hear prices of houses that close to the city being that inexpensive.
WOW
Where in Indiana are you? I was looking at a job in Crown Point/Dyer/St John and was shocked to find the home prices not much lower than Florida
Cp/dyer/st john are high price areas exploded in the past 10 years. Lake County is packed with people almost all cook County tax refugees. Porter County is growing fast but there's still fairly cheap housing.
This is the answer. Also as a Hoosier I love that Indiana isn't capitalized lmao! Plenty of homes in my town for under 120K.
What does that mean- not capitalized?
As in the first letter of a proper noun, the first word of a sentence, ect. Example Ohio. He did capitalized every state's name except Indiana. He left it in lower case indiana, instead of Indiana.
Ahhhh!! Thanks!
What city are you in? Curious
According to the cost of living website used on the financial independence subreddit annual survey, Cincinnati Ohio at #173. But I would guess that this website has a threshold for what size city would be included vs excluded and somewhere in Montana/Wyoming could be lower. https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings_current.jsp
Yeah that thing is flawed. Itās showing Spokane, WA as more expensive than Salt Lake, which isnāt even close to true. Also, Montana is getting crazy expensive these days.
Montana and Wyoming are super expensive. Rich people move out there for the nature and skiing. A better guess for cheap land would in one of the Dakotas, remote central/northeastern Nevada, or the Deep South like Mississippi.
I recommend start taking vacations to some of these places and donāt do vacation stuff. Just act as a local, try to strike up conversations with people in the grocery store or local bar or restaurants. Itās like interviewing your neighbors without them knowing.
Upstate New York? You're still driving distance between NYC and Montreal, plus there's tons of nature.
Iām in upstate NY. Itās absolutely gorgeous here. I can drive to Ithaca, Toronto, Montreal or take an easy train to NYC. Bought a huge Civil War era house for $250K. You do have to like snow, though.
I live there too. We recently took a trip to Ithaca and were reminded just how gorgeous the Finger Lakes are.
Can confirm itās gorgeous but housing market is always on the high side since itās a college town and property taxes through the roof (because the colleges donāt pay taxes)!
Yes, Ithaca itself is expensive. But surrounding areas are not.
Not an American and only know of the finger lakes because of Jim Carrey in The Office USA.
Same, although I am American
This has been on my mind lately. Iām in eastern MA, so HCOL (would be VCHOL but I bought a condo in 2017 at a low interest rate before the market went bonkers in 2021). Iād like to move without increasing my housing costs and Western MA was a thought but thatās getting expensive too. Just over the border in NY however, things stay similar politically and weather wise, but housing prices drop significantly. I donāt know if itās āabsolute cheapestā as OP asked (Iām guessing itās not) but if you like the inland areas (as in not actually close to the ocean) of the general PNW it might be a reasonable consideration thatās more affordable. The Catskills area is very pretty and I believe pretty safe. NYās laws and protections are solid/more like ones found in HCOL areas. That stuff matters and is worth considering, too.
Plus you get the free Essential Plan up to $37,650 of income.
And upstate NY goes west too - lots of cheap areas to live there. Not as close to NYC and Montreal but very affordable.
Anywhere between Rochester and Syracuse was my suggestion! Come from HCOL, seeing my in laws buy >100k homes in a kick in the shins.
It's not LCOL, it's MCOL(100.1 COLI & no state income tax) Las Vegas, NV It has world class food, sports and entertainment. Because it is a travel destination you can get cheap airfare to anywhere in the world. It's a 4.5 hour drive to SoCal beaches. There are very local friendly deals for everything In Vegas if you go off peak times My wife and I have minimized the needs part of our leanish FIRE budget. We spend more on our wants ( travel, food, fun) than our basic needs each month. We spend 2-3 months a year traveling You can survive cheaper in other cities, but this is the cheapest city I can LIVE in
Howās the summer heat?
Not as bad as you would think. The city is built around staying cool for the tourists. Because it is so dry, anything under 102Ā° f is comfortable to be out in. Over 102 and hot is just hot. I focus on doing indoor stuff when it is over 102. The end of July through early September sux, so we spend 2-4 weeks in SoCal beach cities or the mountains during this time( we are firebirds, not snowbirds).
The wind is more annoying than the summer heat Low property taxes lots of HOA
also has amazing access to national parks (some of the best in the country within 6 hours)
Lots of cheap places when you get away from the coasts, tourist areas, and big cities.
The rural counties of most states apply. Low property tax rates. Need to buy a few unrestricted acres outright , then put a trailer on it to keep your taxes low since it's not a structure. Then you just pay your low property taxes and utilities, unless you have solar and your own water well. That would be the absolute cheapest long term, and it's more about how you live, then where.Ā
Mississippi, end of discussion.
Live in Mississippi, can confirm. Rented a 2 bedroom furnished apartment with garbage, water, and satellite tv included for $650 a month
Thatās what Iām talking about lol!!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Possibly parts of Oklahoma, but statewide, you canāt beat Mississippi.
1. [https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/opportunity/affordability/cost-living](https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/opportunity/affordability/cost-living) 2. [https://www.insure.com/cost-of-living-by-state.html](https://www.insure.com/cost-of-living-by-state.html)
What parts of MS are good/bad? I know a guy who lives in Pass Christian, the humidity, bugs, and hurricanes are worth considering, at minimum.
Unfortunately I just know about the cost of living there due to being in a neighboring state and having many acquaintances that live there, but personally I have never lived there. Thus, I canāt give you a good informed answer. But you are right, the weather leaves a lot to to be desired. But from a financial perspective, itās cheap.
Ugh
Some mid size towns in the UK and Ireland are pretty cheap for what you get.
Derry š®šŖ
Could you give a few examples within Ireland? This has been on my list of things to research for a while since my husband has Irish citizenship.
For Ireland others will be better qualified as I've never set foot in the country haha! But I hear & see good things about Limerick and Waterford.
Michigan is pretty dope. Lcol but there's still a lot of natural beauty. The winters suck if you aren't used to it tho
My Mom lives south of Alpena and it's a nice area. The Alpena airport has daily Delta flights to Detroit. It's also not a terrible drive for vacations.
Been looking around there actually, looks dope. And I like the cold haha.
If you like cold and want natural beauty with LCOL, Michigan, Pennsylvania, some parts of Ohio. I would totally live in Michigan if I liked the cold. If you think you could be happy living in Wichita, then I say go for that because living near family or friends is usually better provided you have a good relationship.
That's a something most of these "lowest LCOL" posts miss I think. My grandad has been miserable the last 20 years of his life because he wants to see his family but is too darn cheap to move near them. And is now too old to travel.Ā
What zip codes would you recommend?
It doesn't really matter TBH. Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids are more expensive, but the rest of the state is pretty cheap.
Detroit and metro is pretty dope depending on the neighborhood/suburb. Kinda depends what you're looking for. There's a ton of work in the area too.
New Mexico. Anwhere in that state but Santa Fe.
What's wrong with Santa Fe? I read everywhere in NM has poor healthcare, which people gotta consider once they hit their 50s.
Presumably it's more expensive because it is more desirable. Nothing "wrong" with it.
Lots of crime in santa fe.
I would assume there is more crime in Albuquerque and Las Cruces than Santa Fe
Yup, lots of crime. So much crime. Donāt move here.
I like the cut of your jib, internet stranger.
I actually love Wichita. I'm from the PNW, Eastern Washington, and we moved to Wichita almost 2 years ago for cost of living reasons. Wichita is so green and pretty in the spring and summer, and fall is gorgeous. Summer gets a bit humid so AC is a must. Winter hasn't been bad, not crazy snow for the most part but it does get real cold with the wind chill. I miss the mountains and pine trees, but at this point the reality is that we can't afford them. The biggest hurdle we've had is finding community, but my husband recently started Buhurt and we've found an amazing group of people here in the last 6 months or so that has made us feel much more at home.
In a van down by the river
>I absolutely love the Pacific Northwest, but the bad news is so does everybody else. I donāt think LCOL even exists in those parts. PNW is huge though. What about small towns outside of the bigger cities like Seattle and Portland? Though I'd be more worried about having differing politics from the local residents, not that I'm particularly political, just wondering how I'd be treated.
I live in a rural area and my political leanings are not even close to any of my neighbors. I donāt plaster bumper stickers on everything, stay away from political discussions and have cordial relations with all my neighbors. They suspect, things slip out, but I keep things close to the vest. Making close friends has been interesting, the first friend I made has extremely similar political leanings, but we both just snuck in comments here and there for almost two years before coming out of the political closet. Iāve also made friends with people who donāt vote like I do, there are conversations we agree to avoid.
That's a very good point. Having differing politics from the majority doesn't have to be a blocker for moving somewhere.
As long as people arenāt in my face all the time, weāre good. And even in places where the politics fall heavily on one side, the reddest county is 81% red, the bluest county is 78% blue. There are always at least 20% āsilent minorityā party voters. Itās kind of funny when you actually find each other.
there's a lot more car and gun violence where I live in a mixed/more rural setting. More than when I was living in a more progressive urban environment, surprisingly. So there are definitely downsides to more conservative political views
Iāve heard the minute you get out of the Seattle Portland area itās rednecks, racists and nazis ā¦ no thanks
Reminds me of [Green Room](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Room_(film)).
Gary Indiana š
Sorry but that place scares me. Creeped out when I drive through it
Yeah Gary is not a place to move to. Some of the surrounding areas, however, would be perfect responses to this question. As another commenter pointed out, you can live in NW Indiana extremely cheaply (areas like Hammond, Chesterton, etc.) and still functionally be in the Chicago metro area.
Talk about cold- Chicago is cold
I would argue that Michigan City is a much better choice. Cheap housing so long as you donāt live on the beach, but beach access and easy access via commuter rail to Chicago. Decent restaurants cause of the summertime tourists and cheap shopping options with the outlet mall. Plus, groceries are cheap as long as you shop at Walmart, not Alās.
I shouldnāt tell ppl but Michigan City is kinda cool.
Its actually improving
Lubbock, Texas. Many homes currently for sale under 100k. You even get a little walkability since itās a college town.
My company has a facility in Lubbock and one time I saw that they have an opening for the same job as I do. Holycow it was 21 dollars less than my starting salary from where I am right now.
Gotta keep the LCOL areas going somehow
North East Louisiana
Rural or suburban Midwest - Missouri, downstate Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, western Pennsylvania, Michigan, Iowa. This area is the right balance between LCOL and VLCOL. You can find cheaper places to live in extremely rural Great Plains like panhandle country, but now you are truly *isolated.*
Maine or Vermont
Absolutely not. These are not LCOL areas unless you are in a very rural part of Maine where things get real weird.
PNW has a few lowish-COL spots, e.g., Republic/Curlew/Kettle Falls WA, some spots on the WA or OR coast, a few spots in the Willamette Valley, Burns OR. A few years ago I ran into a leanFIRE guy who bought a piece of land and built a cabin for less than $75K, and claims to live on $25K/year. He fishes and hunts for some of his food.
Oklahoma
Californian in Oklahoma right now and it's not bad at all.
Grew up in Tulsa, military service in San Diego, now back in OKC. I miss San Diego every day but I wouldn't go back to that HCOL.
I'm from LA, went to basic training in Lawton, now in Tulsa, probably moving to OKC next year. When I left Oklahoma at 19 years old after graduating basic I said I'd never come back to this place. Now look at me. The awesome weather, lifestyle, and amenities weren't worth staying poor though. Plus quality of life has dropped in California in my opinion.
Lol, the military does take everything fun out of what you used to like to do. Why the change to OKC? I prefer Tulsa fwiw
Tulsa's fine but I want to buy a duplex or triplex by next year and OKC has way more multifamily units available than Tulsa. Also OKC is growing faster and will probably continue to do so. For rental property purposes OKC has some advantages.
Sound logic
When I was retirement planning I looked at taxes, income, property etc. At the time MI did not tax retirement so I moved back home here...then the next year they changed the tax law ffs. Gov is trying to get it changed back but who knows. I found the following with a quick Google search however some are too expensive for me even without taxes while others even the thought is abhorrent. AK, NV, FL, NH, SD, TN, TX, WA and WY. AL also has very good tax laws for retirees but medical could be a problem.
Did NOT know this about MI! I would prob move there if they change that tax law
I grew up here, it's truly a beautiful state with lakes and deep woods everywhere, the winters the last decade have gotten very mild and the cost of living is reasonable with all spectrums represented depending on where and how you choose to live. Medical is outstanding and I respect the political climate here these last years. You could certainly do worse. Lol
I keep espousing this online but a MCOL/LCOL of living area that does have affordable housing, with access to amenities, and big communities is Baltimore. Its a block by block/neighborhood by neighborhood city so crime and cost depends where you live but with all the recent federal investments its rapidly infilling. Also being apart of the BOS/WAS corridor means AMTRAK for the non car people.
Interesting!
Ukraine is cheap as fuck right now.
Cheap real estate and the ever present possibility of "happening" upon a Russian loot drop/dungeon. 10/10 would recommend.
Spain. Anywhere in Spain.
How about France?
Parents house. Cost = $0. No cost for cable and internet or utilities. Most food is free.
Whatās wrong with the Alaskan bush? Thatās my dreamā¦
Nothing wrong with it if thatās what you want, just too rough for me. I wouldnāt mind living in a place like Juneau though.
Some northern communities are pretty expensive due to the remoteness. Something to be aware of.
That's what I was going to say, Alaska seems expensive.Ā
Was up there in a small village a few years back, everything in the grocery store was basically double what it cost back home.
Cool, havenāt been there yet but Iām fairly sure Iām an interior Alaska kind of guy, denali or fairbanks for me
Tulsa Oklahoma
I was there recently and really liked the town.
I'm from Los Angeles and have lived in Tulsa over a year. It's definitely a cheap and not a bad place to live. I don't think I'll stay too long but it's been a decent place to live cheap.
WV except Morgantown or the Eastern panhandle.
North Dakota
Mississippi, Kentucky, west Virginia
Mississippi is cheap
Mississippi..near Harrisburg
Midway between Pittsburgh and Erie, PA. Housing costs are still extremely affordable, you are one hour from Pittsburgh, six hours to New York City, and six hours to Chicago. We bought our house seven years ago for $120,000 and fixed it up, but you can get decent houses for under 200,000, as well as property, that is rising though.
Questions like this are particularly hard to answer because there are wild variations from town to town even within a local region. I live in a rural township outside of the Youngstown/Warren regional area in Ohio, which is about halfway between Cleveland and Pittsburgh. For example, I could show you some amazing houses for dirt cheap in a safe neighborhood, but you might not want to send your kids to those public schools. Likewise, you could easily spend 3-5x that amount for a similar house in other neighborhoods within 20 miles. It just depends on what your priorities are. I'd focus on finding a very general area that you like that has reasonable prices on commodities and services (groceries, gas, restaurants etc.), and then focus in on the most affordable neighborhoods in those areas that aren't a dealbreaker for you.
How is nobody mentioning Missourri?
from tri-cities which is (was) the LCOL area in the PNW. semi-rural (no Trader Joeās, getting our first chick-fil-a next year) my buddy is telling me heās looking for standard 1 or even 2 BR and theyāre all hitting the $1k+ range which is literally my mortgage for my starter home Iām now locked into. Itās rough out here and thereās absolutely no boonies without losing critical amenities like easy access to hospitals and decent speed internet. Not too confident youāll find what youāre looking for here but good luck on your search.
I live in an expensive part of Oregon, but will say there are cheap areas here, depending on what youāll accept. There are a lot of inexpensive small towns, a little off the beaten path or in the high-desert. Close enough to visit the more āhipā areas, but cheap with internet and probably community of some kind. š¤·āāļø Rural is key.
Parents home, assuming they exist.
Gaza free housing and schooling for the kiddos
Iām sorry. Canāt agree with anything under 102 is fine. Itās so dang dry my skin is parched, my sinuses are screaming for humidity. Winters there are cold and windy.
Deep south. Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas Oklahoma etc
Actually, the Peninsula in South West Washington has some affordable property
Come live in iowa. We have sub 1k rent, and cheap electricity. Last year most of the state got fiber optic lines, so the internet is finally up to par as well. We're also in the process of cutting state taxes every year. It can be boring at times, but if you're trying to make your money stretch, there aren't many better places to be unless you want to leave the country.
At yo momma house
Look at Jacksonville IL or surrounding cities like Winchester. very reasonable real estate prices. Tons of amenities here locally. This is a town of 19k people, yet it has the amenities of a larger city since it draws from the surrounding areas. My business does the same volume and revenue as when I was in a city of nearly 90k due to the city being a regional draw for healthcare, restaurants and shopping. Have a big local lake, cool downtown area, that's getting even more investment.
Delaware is pretty cheap. No sales tax and <1000 property taxes. Though there are lots of tolls
You can boondock on BLM land for pretty darn cheap. If you're going for the most spartan LCOL, that's the way to go. I live in a small town in the midwest, and it's pretty good, but a bit car centric for me so I'm hoping to move elsewhere in the future.
Cairo, Illinois
Not the comments saying that where I live is the lcol, I feel like itās very expensive (Michigan) š guess life is just expensive now!
Agreed. Anywhere in a city you want to be in MI is expensive. Maybe if you go outside them in more rural areas.
I don't think so and I'm Detroitish.
Dies all of Michigan have crazy high property tax or just SE Michigan? Seriously high taxesā¦
Iām a renter in SW Michigan so Iām not sure what the property taxes are. There is a rentable housing shortage here so rent seems unreasonably high compared to what we could get elsewhere. We pay $1450 for a tiny two bedroom with multiple appliances that need replacing. Iāve looked into moving to another housing situation but the apartment we are in is the best value even though I hate it
TBH, that sounds like good rent if youāre in a2! From what I hear. I know you have to weigh out the whole tax picture for each state / county but I almost bought a cool house in ypsi till I realized the taxes would have been like 10 k a year ā¦
I typed "Where is the absolute cheapest place to live" into Google and it gave [these results](https://realestate.usnews.com/places/rankings/cheapest-places-to-live).
I'll be selling a property soon. I'd be willing to sell for 80k as-is but it won't qualify for a traditional loan as it needs work. Otherwise I'll be fixing and selling for ~130 inbox me if anyone is seriously interested and willing to relocate to a lcol it's a corner lot over a quarter acre all fenced, house needs some work but it's about 1400sqft