Living in this economy these days can be a little taxing on your wallet, and budging ones expenses seems to be a norm as well. The various Cities we live in also ultimately determine the type of lifestyle a person has, and how they interact with society. When it comes to calculating living expenses, the Council for Community and Economic Research surveyed close to 300 communities in the US this quarter according to Yahoo.
There are 10 US cities that are the cheapest in the country,
the state of Texas has three of them, along with the mid-west holding down four spots. Just making the list at number 10 is a town in
Oklahoma called
Pryor Creek, it has the
nation’s fifth-cheapest cost for miscellaneous items, and ranks 28th for cheapest
health care. You can also get around town cheaply as it costs 7% for transportation, which is better than the national average. Along with these living conditions for one-bedroom homes can range from $10,000 to a nice 3-acre home topping off at $995,000.
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| English: Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Coming in at number 9 is a town in Colorado called Pueblo, it has the 15th best housing cost, the nation’s sixth best miscellaneous cost, and transportation cost is 4% below the nationally average. As far as buying a house goes, you can get a three-bedroom house for $14,500.
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| The river walk in downtown Pueblo, Colorado. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
To make the cut at number 8 we take a look at Arkansas and the town of Conway. The town has been ranked in the top ten for health care cost the past few years, and now ranks second best in the nation for lowest health care cost, almost 20% lower than the national average. To go along with their highly ranked health care cost, they carry the third best cost for miscellaneous items.
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| English: Conway's historic downtown (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
For the number 7 rank we head to Ohio to a town about 60 miles away from Cleveland called Ashland. This town has the second best prices for miscellaneous items, and 19th best for housing cost and you can get a two bed-room house for $20,000.
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| A view of downtown Ashland, Ohio on East Main Street. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
For the number 6 town in the countdown we make our way down to the state that is known for their state fairs and doing everything big… Texas.
Temple, TX is the first of three Texas towns in the countdown, this town of 66,000 people has the fourth best lowest prices for groceries, and the 12th least-expensive housing cost. Transportation in Temple is close to 10% below the nationally average, and its health care cost is 8% below the national average as well. As far as housing, a three-bedroom house goes for $20,000.
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| English: Downtown scene of Temple, TX, at Main Street near the Municipal Building (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Starting off the top five lists is another Oklahoma town called Ardmore. This town has one of the biggest percent differences when it comes to the housing cost compared to the national average. Ardmore housing cost is 21% below the national average, and you can get a one-bedroom house for around $15,000. To go along with this, the town has the 13th-best health care prices and 14th-best utility charges.
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| English: Intersection of Main (SH-199) & Washington (SH-77S) Streets in downtown Ardmore, Oklahoma. I took this photo myself on 03/05/06. Category:Images of Oklahoma (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
The mid-west makes another cut with the 4 cheapest town
Fayetteville, AR. The 45 square mile town has the nation’s 12th best prices when it comes to transportation, the 17th lowest prices in groceries, and 9th lowest miscellaneous cost. Getting a three bedroom house in this town will run you close to $30,00o
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| English: Bars at Dickson Street in Fayetteville, Arkansas. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
McAllen makes it into the list for the second of three towns in Texas for the countdown at number 3. Located just five miles north of Mexico this town has one of the top 10 best prices for groceries, as it ranks 6th nationally. Along with ranking high with groceries,the people of McAllen claim the lowest housing cost out of all 10 towns, as its cost is nearly 40% below the national average.
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| English: Cityscape of Mcallen, TX (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Tennessee makes an appearance on the list with the second cheapest town in America with the popular city of Memphis. The jazz capitol of the US has an outstanding housing cost, just like McAllen, Memphis housing cost is close to 32% below the national average, and you can actually get a three-bedroom house for wait for it…. $2,000.
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| English: Memphis, Tennessee skyline from the air. A photograph by myself while in Memphis] (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Rounding out the top 10 is Texas’ third entry with Harlingen claiming the nation’s cheapest town title. Nestled 10 miles away from the US-Mexican border this town has the nation’s lowest cost for miscellaneous goods, has the fourth-cheapest transportation cost, and fifth best grocery cost.
That rounds out the nation’s 10 cheapest towns, if you live in one of these towns congratulations to you, let’s see if these towns can hold up in this economy now.
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