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Most Affordable Cities in the United States

June 7, 2013

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NerdWallet ranked the nation’s least expensive cities. The index scores listed can be compared to the national average score of 100. A full fifth of the list is comprised of Texan cities — everything’s bigger, and cheaper, in Texas. Southern states also made an appearance, with Tennessee, Oklahoma, Georgia, Alabama and Arkansas together taking 26 spots on the list.

For more information, check out our Cost of Living Calculator.

Rank	State	City	Cost of living index
1	Texas	Harlingen, TX	81.8
2	Texas	McAllen, TX	85.4
3	Oklahoma	Norman, OK	85.6
4	Oklahoma	Ardmore, OK	85.9
5	Tennessee	Memphis, TN	86.0
6	Arkansas	Fayetteville, AR	86.1
7	Texas	Wichita Falls, TX	86.5
8	Oklahoma	Muskogee, OK	86.9
9	Colorado	Pueblo, CO	87.1
10	Indiana	New Albany-Clark-Floyd County, IN	87.6
11	Ohio	Ashland, OH	87.6
12	Texas	San Marcos, TX	87.7
13	Illinois	Springfield, IL	87.8
14	Utah	Cedar City, UT	87.9
15	Arkansas	Conway, AR	88.0
16	Idaho	Idaho Falls, ID	88.0
17	Ohio	Youngstown-Warren, OH	88.2
18	Texas	Sherman-Denison, TX	88.3
19	Texas	San Antonio, TX	88.5
20	Texas	Temple, TX	88.5
21	Alabama	Birmingham, AL	88.5
22	North Carolina	Winston-Salem, NC	88.5
23	Michigan	Kalamazoo, MI	88.8
24	Arkansas	Jonesboro, AR	88.8
25	Tennessee	Nashville-Franklin, TN	88.9
26	Mississippi	Tupelo, MS	89.0
27	Oklahoma	Pryor Creek, OK	89.0
28	Virginia	Martinsville-Henry County, VA	89.1
29	Texas	Lubbock, TX	89.2
30	Illinois	Decatur, IL	89.2
31	Oklahoma	Tulsa, OK	89.2
32	Tennessee	Knoxville, TN	89.3
33	South Carolina	Anderson, SC	89.4
34	Kentucky	Covington, KY	89.4
35	Indiana	Muncie, IN	89.6
36	Nebraska	Omaha, NE	89.6
37	Ohio	Columbus, OH	89.7
38	Texas	San Angelo, TX	89.8
39	Indiana	Indianapolis-Morgan County, IN	89.8
40	Missouri	Joplin, MO	89.8
41	Tennessee	Cookeville, TN	89.9
42	Missouri	Springfield, MO	90.0
43	Alabama	Dothan, AL	90.0
44	Texas	Brazoria County, TX	90.0
45	Kansas	Salina, KS	90.2
46	Oklahoma	Ponca City, OK	90.2
47	Tennessee	Murfreesboro-Smyrna, TN	90.2
48	Kentucky	Lexington, KY	90.3
49	Iowa	Des Moines, IA	90.3
50	South Carolina	Sumter, SC	90.5
51	Georgia	Augusta-Aiken, GA-SC	90.6
52	Oklahoma	Stillwater, OK	90.7
53	North Carolina	Thomasville-Lexington, NC	90.7
54	Illinois	Galesburg, IL	90.8
55	Kansas	Hays, KS	90.8
56	North Carolina	Raleigh, NC	90.8
57	Tennessee	Morristown, TN	90.8
58	Oklahoma	Oklahoma City, OK	90.8
59	New Mexico	Carlsbad, NM	90.8
60	Kentucky	Louisville, KY	90.8
61	Alabama	Decatur-Hartselle, AL	90.9
62	Iowa	Burlington, IA	90.9
63	Indiana	Richmond, IN	91.0
64	Louisiana	Hammond, LA	91.0
65	Georgia	Douglas, GA	91.0
66	Georgia	Savannah, GA	91.0
67	Wisconsin	Eau Claire, WI	91.0
68	Indiana	South Bend, IN	91.1
69	Georgia	Dalton, GA	91.1
70	Texas	Seguin, TX	91.2
71	Kansas	Hutchinson, KS	91.3
72	Texas	Brownsville, TX	91.3
73	Texas	Bryan-College Station, TX	91.3
74	Texas	Athens-Henderson County, TX	91.3
75	Kentucky	Paducah, KY	91.3
76	Texas	Fort Worth, TX	91.4
77	Texas	Paris, TX	91.4
78	Virginia	Danville City, VA	91.4
79	Kansas	Wichita, KS	91.4
80	Virginia	Roanoke, VA	91.5
81	Indiana	Elkhart-Goshen, IN	91.5
82	Missouri	St. Louis, MO-IL	91.6
83	Texas	Waco, TX	91.6
84	Indiana	Fort Wayne-Allen County, IN	91.6
85	Georgia	Albany, GA	91.7
86	North Carolina	Gastonia, NC	91.8
87	West Virginia	Martinsburg-Berkeley County, WV	91.9
88	Ohio	Cincinnati, OH	91.9
89	Louisiana	Baton Rouge, LA	91.9
90	Arizona	Bullhead City, AZ	91.9
91	Texas	Conroe, TX	92.0
92	Texas	Corpus Christi, TX	92.0
93	Texas	Midland, TX	92.0
94	Idaho	Twin Falls, ID	92.1
95	Iowa	Cedar Rapids, IA	92.1
96	Utah	St. George, UT	92.1
97	Alabama	Florence, AL	92.1
98	Nevada	Reno-Sparks, NV	92.3
99	Texas	Denton, TX	92.4
100	Florida	Palm Coast-Flagler County, FL	92.4

Data came from the 2012 Annual Report in ACCRA’s Cost of Living index.

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