These 10 Cities Ranked for Having the Lowest Cost of Living in 2021

published Dec 5, 2021
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Tulsa, Oklahoma

It’s been all over the news for the past year: Home prices are rapidly on the rise, and homebuyers’ incomes just can’t keep up with the increases. In some cases, people are being priced out of their own communities, and are on the hunt for cheaper places to live. If you’re interested in moving to a place with a low cost of living, a new study by Move.org investigated which cities have the highest and the lowest costs of living in 2021.

Researchers ranked the 74 most populous cities in the country based on standard living costs like groceries, utilities, gas, and rent. They also looked at the median income in each locale, so you’ll know what you might earn if you move there. Each one was ranked based on current population numbers from the census.

As you might expect, the majority of the top ten most expensive places to live are in California. Honolulu, Seattle, and Boston are the three non-California cities on the list, surrounded by places like Irvine (the highest cost of living at $3,062 per month), San Jose, San Francisco, San Diego, and Anaheim.

The lowest cost of living cities are a much broader regional spread. Wichita, Kansas, has the lowest at $1,219 monthly. Other states on the list include Ohio, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Indiana.

One of the most interesting findings in the study is that some cities are virtually impossible to live in on your own. Honolulu, for example, has the fifth highest cost of living and the lowest median income of the top ten places. And in Santa Ana, California, the cost of living almost matches the median income exactly — so it would be incredibly difficult to sustain a solo lifestyle in the city.

If you’re itching to move somewhere where you can save money rather than spend it all on monthly expenses, here’s the breakdown of the ten cities with the lowest cost of living.

Credit: Shutterstock.com/Sean Pavone
Memphis, Tennessee

1. Wichita, Kansas

Monthly cost of living: $1,219
Median yearly income: $30,563

2. Cincinnati, Ohio

Monthly cost of living: $1,226
Median yearly income: $46,260

3. Tulsa, Oklahoma

Monthly cost of living: $1,249
Median yearly income: $29,429

4. St. Louis, Missouri

Monthly cost of living: $1,265
Median yearly income: $31,415

5. Memphis, Tennessee

Monthly cost of living: $1,267
Median yearly income: $25,790

6. El Paso, Texas

Monthly cost of living: $1,276
Median yearly income: $23,217

7. Louisville, Kentucky

Monthly cost of living: $1,312
Median yearly income: $31,220

8. Indianapolis, Indiana

Monthly cost of living: $1,315
Median yearly income: $30,666

9. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Monthly cost of living: $1,320
Median yearly income: $31,626

10. Tucson, Arizona

Monthly cost of living: $1,330
Median yearly income: $25,341