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I don’t really put much stock in these lists. It’s much more accurate to look at income to expense ratios, so this misses any kind of picture I think would be relevant for making an actual choice.
That said, picking a few places from the list is a game I’ll play.
The only ones from the most expensive list I’d consider are California (it’ll always be my home), and maybe Colorado.
From the least expensive list, NEW MEXICO!!!!! It’s one of my favorite places on the planet. It’s gorgeous and given that I’m a desert guy generally, I would have no trouble picking from the varied sub-geographies in the state. I love the culture which is still steeped in a lot of the Spanish and native influences, the fact that New Mexican cuisine is probably my second fav type of Mexican food behind much of the actual Mexican food, and I like pretty much all the cities I’ve been to there. Most of the others on the list are either a hard no, or have a big asterisk - I might consider the gulf areas of MS or AL, but eh….probably not. West Virginia is devastatingly gorgeous, but boy does it have some problems, and I don’t think I could handle winter.
New Mexico. Yes…yes, please, gimme some of that New Mexico.
I would only seriously consider 2 of the "least expensive" states - New Mexico and South Dakota, and maybe give consideration to West Virginia. The rest are either too hot/humid or too geographically boring. Anywhere south of I-70/I-64 and east of I-35 is a hard pass.
Whether I'd live anywhere is always contextual. Is that the only place I can get a job? Am I supporting kids so I need a lower cost of living? How long am I planning on living there?
That aside, my preferences are for larger cities, so St. Louis, Oklahoma City, Louisville, etc. would be ideal.
But if I knew I was getting shipped to an arbitrary small town in each state for work, this would be my ranking:
New Mexico
Oklahoma
Indiana
Missouri
South Dakota
Alabama
Kentucky
Arkansas
Mississippi
West Virginia
I wouldn't live in any of those states, of either group. The ones I prefer are more in the middle. The most expensive ones are overrated, and the cheapest ones have other negative matters.
I would only seriously consider 2 of the "least expensive" states - New Mexico and South Dakota, and maybe give consideration to West Virginia. The rest are either too hot/humid or too geographically boring. Anywhere south of I-70/I-64 and east of I-35 is a hard pass.
I'd consider Santa Fe but a good condition 2,000 sf adobe house in the good part of town is $1.25 million. That's the antithesis of "least expensive" state. I have friends who live in Corrales. One of the better ABQ suburbs. A house there isn't cheap, either.
With inflation and current housing market affecting all of us, I am hearing more and more about Americans looking into more affordable states to live, work, and play. I saw this article (see the link below).
Top 10 most expensive U.S. states based on monthly expenses:
Hawaii - #1 Most Expensive State
California
New Jersey
Massachusetts
Maryland
Connecticut
New York
Washington
Colorado
Alaska
Top 10 least expensive states based on monthly expenses:
Alabama
Missouri
New Mexico
South Dakota
Indiana
Kentucky
Oklahoma
Arkansas
Mississippi
West Virginia - #1 Least Expensive State
Would you live in any of these least expensive states? Please feel free to make comments about them including pros and cons.
Of these, I'd gladly live in Missouri, New Mexico, and West Virginia. The former has two centrally located cities with lots of cheap urban housing (even outside the "bad" parts). The latter two are absolutely gorgeous. I'd do somewhere in Saint Louis County, Santa Fe, or Harpers Ferry in that scenario.
I'd also live in Indiana if it were the parts near Chicago. If anything, I think that area is grossly underrated. You can buy a beautiful home for cheap in a city like Crown Point, be near the beach, the Loop, an hour from a Top 10 global airport, and avoid all the malaise that comes from being in Illinois (high taxes, unfunded pension liabilities, bureaucracy) or Chicago proper (crime). You get the benefits of proximity to Chicago without the detractions.
I've lived in Oklahoma (Tulsa) and while it was fine (and I have an attachment to the city), it is very isolated. Same for Arkansas, which has gorgeous scenery, but there's nowhere I could pick that would be anywhere close to a major airport. Maybe NW Arkansas in 25 years (since I do love lush green mountains).
South Dakota is too isolated.
Alabama, Kentucky, and Mississippi have no pull from me. If I had to pick, it would be somewhere like Huntsville or Spanish Fort in AL and Covington/Newport in KY. I'm drawing a blank on anywhere I'd enjoy in Mississippi. Maybe Natchez or probably DeSoto County just for proximity to Memphis (which is dumpy, but at least has a mid-sized airport nearby)
The problem with this is that cost of living can vary greatly by state. So, doing this by metro area would make more sense for that reason.
Correct. I mean West Virginia may be the "least expensive state", but then you have a city like Morgantown, WV, which is rather expensive, especially for housing. We live in Pittsburgh, PA, and our housing payment is <$400/month. Nevertheless PA isn't one of the Top 10 cheapest states despite how cheap Pittsburgh is. Then with NY of course Downstate/Long Island is uber-$$$, but you can easily live on a budget in Elmira, Binghamton, Utica, Schenectady, Buffalo, and many other areas.
I currently live in one of the least expensive states (Indiana), and you get what you pay for. There is a HUGE brain drain in the state, as the economy is not very well structured to grow higher paying 21st century jobs for the most part. Also, any area of the state that is more populated with greater incomes levels will have cost of living at or above the national average (Indy, Chicagoland, Louisville, Cincinnati). I've been looking at moving to a middle of the pack kind of state, one that isn't in the top 10 or bottom 10.
Indiana is a bottom 10 state for housing because it has awful cities with severely depressed economies and very low incomes:
Evansville
Muncie
Anderson
South Bend
Gary
Terre Haute
I have lived in Kansas twice and it’s very cheap if you don’t live in Kansas City. Wichita is the biggest city and I still have friends there and it’s incredibly cheap.
Wichita has had a junk local economy for decades with the loss of aircraft manufacturing jobs, and is below average in a number of key metrics. Kansas also tends to rank in the top 10 for out-migration of people leaving every year, and that always depresses housing prices due to less demand. Johnson County, KS by Kansas City, MO on the other hand, has seen a huge increase in housing prices, and is the polar opposite of Wichita. It has a highly educated white collar workforce with well above average median household income levels.
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