The cheapest small towns to live in aren't for everyone.
True, small-town living has plenty of perks: light traffic, a strong sense of community and a slower pace of life. Perhaps best of all, there's the cost of living, which typically is cheaper in small towns than in expensive big cities.
To get a sense of what inexpensive small-town living really costs, we compiled a list of the 10 cheapest small towns to live in America, with small towns defined as places with populations of approximately 10,000 to 50,000 people.
We compiled our rankings based on the Council for Community and Economic Research's (C2ER) calculations of living expenses in 265 urban areas. C2ER's Cost of Living Index measures prices for housing, groceries, utilities, transportation, healthcare, and miscellaneous goods and services, such as going to a movie or getting your hair done at a salon.
The data, which sorts through thousands of prices in hundreds of cities, allowed us to pinpoint the small towns with the absolute lowest living costs. (For larger urban areas, be sure to read our list of the 25 Cheapest Places to Live: U.S. Cities Edition.)
It goes without saying that you should weigh the pros and cons before you pack up and relocate to one of the 10 cheapest small towns in America. While a low cost of living is attractive, it can be offset by issues such as scarce jobs, small paychecks or a lack of things to do in the area. Plan an extended visit to ensure the small town fits your lifestyle.
And so, without further ado, here are the 10 cheapest small towns to live in the U.S.
- Cost of living: 12.1% below U.S. average
- Population: 34,990
- Median household income: $32,797 (U.S.: $74,580 )
- Median home value: $97,800 (U.S.: $342,685 )
- Unemployment rate: 2.8% (U.S.: 3.7%)
Meridian was rebuilt from 1890 to 1930 after being almost totally destroyed in the Civil War. As a result, it has not one but nine registered historic districts. The Highland Park Dentzel Carousel, dating back to 1909, is one of the more whimsical ones.
Meridian's other claim to fame is as the birthplace of Jimmie Rodgers, known as the "Father of Country Music." Music remains a centerpiece of Meridian's cultural scene to this day.
Today, the federal government plays an important role in its economic life, as Naval Air Station Meridian and Key Field are two of the largest employers.
Happily, the men and women in uniform – as well as all of Meridian's civilian citizens – catch a break on living costs, which stand 12.1% below the U.S. average. But what really pushes Meridian onto the list of America's absolute cheapest small towns is its comparatively modest housing costs. Indeed, housing expenses are 28.2% lower than what the average American pays.
Meridian's older residents also benefit from the fact that Mississippi is one of the more tax-friendly states for retirees according to our Mississippi State Tax Guide.
Sadly, as with several of the small towns on this list, Meridian's low cost of living comes at a high price. Its poverty rate of 32.4% is considerably higher than the Mississippi state rate of 19.2%.
- Cost of living: 13.3% below U.S. average
- Population: 20,610
- Median household income: $42,371
- Median home value: $97,000
- Unemployment rate: 2.1%
Pittsburg is about a two-and-a-half-hour drive due south from Kansas City on Route 69. When you get there, you'll find a small town with a cost of living more than 13% below the national average.
Once upon a time, the town was known for its abundance of coal and the Southern and Eastern European immigrants who worked the mines. Today, the area relies more heavily on higher education, thanks to the presence of Pittsburg State University. Famous alumni of Pittsburg's local university include actor Gary Busey and Brian Moorman, retired two-time Pro Bowl punter for the NFL's Buffalo Bills.
Other major employers include transportation company Watco, and Via Christi Hospital medical center.
As for leisure activities, tiny Pittsburg doesn't lack for family-friendly things to do. Area highlights include Lakeside Park, the Crawford County Historical Museum and the Pittsburg Aquatic Center.
Although median incomes are well below the national average, average home prices are a whopping $97,000 cheaper. All told, housing costs are 26.2% lower than what the typical American pays. Myriad other items are economical, as well. Miscellaneous goods and services run about 10% cheaper in Pittsburg. A movie ticket, for example, averages about seven bucks.
- Cost of living: 13.6% below U.S. average
- Population: 25,098
- Median household income: $57,554
- Median home value: $156,400
- Unemployment rate: 2.2%
Hastings was founded in 1872 and is located at the intersection of the Burlington and Missouri Rivers. Before the railroads arrived the area was open plain. The Donner party passed through on its way to California in 1846. In the 1870s, railroads lured European immigrants to the new state of Nebraska with advertisements.
A fire in 1879 destroyed 33 buildings downtown and was later rebuilt between 1880 and 1890 with characteristically ornate Victorian buildings, many designed by Charles C. Rittenhouse, the first practicing architect in Adams County and also mayor for ten years.
Housing in Hastings is the most expensive on this list of cheapest small towns. Overall costs are 26.2% below the national average and the average cost of a home is $396,300. Rental costs are a whopping 43.3% below the national average with the average rental costing $875. And utilities are almost 20% below the norm.
Kool-Aid is known as Nebraska's official soft drink for a goof reason. It was invented by Edwin Perkins in Hastings. All of his experiments took place in his mother's kitchen. Hastings still celebrates a yearly summer festival called Kool-Aid Days on the second weekend in August in honor of their city's claim to fame.
Hastings welcomes birders from around the world who wish to take in the spectacular annual migration of cranes and waterfowl as they stopover along the Platte River and in the Rainwater Basin each March. Said to be one of the greatest wildlife spectacles on the continent, each spring more than 80% of the world's population of Sandhill Cranes merge within the Platte River Valley. From March to May, over 250 species of waterfowl flock to the Hastings area, making it a prime viewing location.
Nebraska's State Tax Guide shows it is not the most tax-friendly state on the list. It is one of six states that has an inheritance tax and the average effective property tax rate is 1.67%, which is higher than in most states.
- Cost of living: 13.9% below U.S. average
- Population: 24,795
- Median household income: $42,180
- Median home value: $99,600
- Unemployment rate: 5.9%
Kankakee is the county seat of Kankakee County, and serves as an anchor city in the rural plains outside Chicago. The Kankakee River runs through Kankakee and it serves as a major attraction and defining landmark of Kankakee. The river water is refined at the Kankakee water company, and electricity is generated at the Kankakee River Dam, providing vital resources to the community.
The unemployment rate is well above average at 5.9%. The major employers in Kankakee encompass a diverse set of industries. Midwest Transit Equipment is the largest bus dealer in the United States. It was founded back in 1976 and has only 100 employees and an annual revenue of $300M. The Small Newspaper Group Inc. publishes newspapers in the Midwest and employs about 100 people in the Kankakee area. Serologicals Proteins Inc is a medium-sized healthcare company with 651 employees and a revenue of $350M.
The cost of living in Kankakee offers some relief from the difficult employment environment. Housing and utilities are on average 32.4% and 13.7% below average respectively. However, Illinois has earned a place on our list of the 10 Least Tax-Friendly States for Middle-Class Families. There is some good new for retirees because this one of the 13 states that doesn’t tax retirement income.
The city has two softball complexes that have both been inducted into the Softball Hall of Fame. They host annual state and international tournaments drawing nearly 50,000 spectators throughout the year. Some Kankakee youth baseball leagues have won state championships.
It is also home to two important Frank Lloyd Wright homes. The B. Harley Bradley and Warren R. Hickox houses are the very first of their kind and for the next decade Wright’s commissions are said to have been derived from these two basic plans. These two houses marked the beginning of Wright’s Prairie Style period.
- Cost of living: 15.5% below U.S. average
- Population: 46,734
- Median household income: $56,945
- Median home value: $155,500
- Unemployment rate: 1.9%
The small town of Salina sits at the intersection of Interstates 70 and 135, about 90 miles north of Wichita and 175 miles west of Kansas City.
Manufacturing and healthcare are among the town's most important industries. Major employers include Schwan's Company, the maker of Tony's frozen pizza; Great Plains Manufacturing, which serves the agricultural industry; and the Salina Regional Health Center. Salina is also home to several institutions of higher education, including the University of Kansas School of Medicine Salina Campus and Kansas State University Polytechnic Campus.
Salina's economic mix has proven adept at delivering both low unemployment and low living costs. Housing expenses come in at roughly two-thirds of the national average, according to C2ER. Transportation is cheaper too, running about 10% less than the national average.
Locals catch breaks in lots of other ways, too. Groceries, utilities, transportation, healthcare, and miscellaneous goods and services all cost less than the national averages.
On the other hand, taxes are somewhat burdensome statewide. In fact, Kiplinger's Kansas State Tax Guide rates it one of the least tax-friendly states for middle-class families, largely because of a high sales tax.
- Cost of living: 15.7% below U.S. average
- Population: 20,239
- Median household income: $42,049
- Median home value: $203,500
- Unemployment rate: 4.4%
Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana and is located 45 miles east of Baton Rouge and 45 miles northwest of New Orleans. Its airport has a long runway which serves as a backup landing site for Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. During World War II, the Hammond Airport (now Hammond Northshore Regional Airport) served as a detention camp for prisoners of war from Nazi Germany.
The Andouille Trail is a unique culinary byway that will introduce you to Hammond’s contribution to Louisiana cuisine, Andouille sausage. A tasty way to explore Hammond, you'll find producers with wooden smokehouses and recipes that have been handed down for generations.
Among the city's cultural experiences is the Tangipahoa African American Heritage Museum. This is one of the destinations on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail.
Southeastern Louisiana University (SLU), based in Hammond, is one of the state's regional universities and one of the city's largest employers. It was established in 1925 and employs 2,020 people.
Kiplinger's Louisiana State Tax Guide show that the tax profile of the state is generally favorable for many residents. There is no income tax on Social Security benefits and no estate taxes. Property taxes are one of the lowest in the U.S. with the average effective property tax rate at 0.56%.
- Cost of living: 16.6% below U.S. average
- Population: 35,642
- Median household income: $46,356
- Median home value: $96,800
- Unemployment rate: 2.9%
Few cities of any size can claim Richmond's place in the early history of recorded jazz. Some of the first jazz records were made in this small town, featuring greats such as Hoagy Carmichael, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. There's a Walk of Fame celebrating jazz and other artists who recorded with Richmond's Gennett Records.
While jazz will always be part of its history, today's Richmond, which is an hour's drive west from Dayton, Ohio, is known more for its colleges and seminaries. They include Indiana University East, the Earlham School of Religion (part of Quaker-influenced Earlham College) and the Bethany Theological Seminary.
Inexpensive housing is a key to Richmond's place among our nation's cheapest small towns. Residents spend a third less on housing than the average American does. Apartment rents are 47% lower than the national average. Average home prices are 35% less.
Healthcare is a bargain, too. For example, a visit to the eye doctor costs almost half the national average, while an appointment with a physician is 30% less expensive.
- Cost of living: 16.9% below U.S. average
- Population: 37,939
- Median household income: $62,686
- Median home value: $184,100
- Unemployment rate: 2.2%
Tupelo, which sits 110 miles southeast of Memphis's Graceland, is best known as the birthplace of Elvis Presley. Tourists flock to the town's Elvis Presley Birthplace museum and the annual Elvis Festival held in June.
Not a fan of The King? The area's leisure and cultural scene also includes the North Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, Buffalo Park and Zoo, Tombigbee National Forest, the Tupelo National Battlefield and the Tupelo Automobile Museum, among other attractions.
Tupelo's second-largest claim to fame is arguably its super-low living costs. The comprehensive cost of living comes in at nearly 16.9% below the national average. Housing is 30% cheaper, groceries go for 5% less and locals save about 14% on everything from transportation to healthcare to utilities.
For residents not making their livings as Elvis impersonators, major employers include North Mississippi Health Services and Cooper Tire & Rubber. Additionally, two regional banks — Renasant Bank (RNST) and BancorpSouth (BXS) — are headquartered in Tupelo.
- Cost of living: 17% below U.S. average
- Population: 19,270
- Median household income: $56,040
- Median home value: $135,200
- Unemployment rate: 3.2%
Ashland is centrally located between Cleveland and Columbus with convenient access to major highways and transportation. It offers residents a sparse suburban feel with low crime and low unemployment of 3.2% that is below the national rate of 3.7%.
The numbers are even better when you look at the costs of housing and transportation in Ashland. The mean price of a home is $374,000 and that's 25% below average. Rent is even cheaper coming in 50% below average at $785. Healthcare costs are the outlier and will run you about 21% above the national average.
The top employers are in education and biotechnology. Ashland University employs 1,121 and has an annual revenue of $130 million. It was established in 1878 and founded in the Brethren Church tradition. Wil Research is a biotechnology firm with 1,300 employees and an annual revenue of $98M.
Then there is BalloonFest, which helps mark the Fourth of July holiday. There’s nothing like watching an entire fleet of hot air balloons take to the skies for the morning launch — or the mesmerizing nightly spectacle of the Balloon Glow Encounter.
- Cost of living: 19.6% below U.S. average
- Population: 24,441
- Median household income: $51,367
- Median home value: $118,900
- Unemployment rate: 3.9%
Ponca City traces its lineage back to the days of the Land Run of 1893, when pioneers decided to build a town in north-central Oklahoma near the Arkansas River and a freshwater spring.
Not long after its founding, enterprising oil men successfully drilled wells in the area, and Ponca City remains an oil town to this day. Some of the area's largest employers include energy firms such as Schlumberger (SLB), ConocoPhillips (COP) and Phillips 66 (PSX).
Local attractions include the Marland Mansion, which was built by oil baron E.W. Marland in the early 20th century. It's now a museum. Dedicated in 1930, the Pioneer Woman Statute, a 30-foot-tall monument of a pioneer woman holding a young child, is also not to be missed.
Household incomes are well below the national median, but housing is a heck of a deal. The median value of a Ponca City home is just $118,900. Nationally, it's $342,685 Indeed, total housing costs are roughly just two-thirds of what the average American pays, according to C2ER's Cost of Living Index. Residents also catch a break on all manner of miscellaneous goods and services, healthcare and groceries.
Although it's among the cheapest small towns in America, Ponca City's low costs of living do come at a cost of their own: The town sits pretty much smack dab in the middle of Tornado Alley.
