Locations

For a lower cost of living and more room to breathe.

Turns out, $1,125 actually goes a pretty long way in most states: In the top ten cheapest cities, you can score the average one-bedroom for $754 or less.

Yes, really.

Of the 10 ZIP codes on the list, five are appearing on the list for the first time.

Tucked away throughout the five boroughs lie 600 community gardens, providing residents space to plant food and flowers or just generally enjoy the greenery.

People living near protected areas like national parks tend to be healthier and wealthier, according to a 2019 Oregon State University study.

Bellevue’s name comes from a French term meaning “beautiful view,” and let’s just say they nailed the name.

One thing you might immediately notice when you visit this Atlanta suburb is that its residents (called “Decaturites”) like to keep it local.

A suburb of Baltimore, Ellicott City is resilient and ever on-the-move, just like the Patapsco River on which it is built.

The Indianapolis burb has worked hard to make its streets and scenic parks bike friendly, with new trails popping up regularly.

The Chicago suburb received the most votes in our Home Team Panel poll, which asked Apartment Therapy's most engaged readers to cast a ballot for the coolest suburb in America!

You won’t get far in Media without hearing someone refer proudly to this quintessential small suburb by its nickname: “Everybody’s Hometown”—a distinction locals take very seriously.

Wondering how we defined "cool?" Want to know exactly what makes a "suburb?" Check out our full methodology.

Its history, trendy vibe, and proximity to Washington, D.C. afford the suburb its unique flavor.

Brick streets, historic neighborhoods, and a mini-version of Manhattan’s Central Park paint one sublime picture of the Orlando suburb.

This city west of Dallas holds the spot as the most Googled burb.

Arvada has been described by residents as the best of both worlds—a place that has a small-town charm with big city perks.

The island is a small town close to SF with bike-able streets, beaches, and a lively downtown shopping district.

You’ll also find an assortment of businesses that include everything from coffee shops to record stores in a downtown scene replete with outdoor pianos for anyone to stop and play.

Everything in this New York City suburb is within a single mile, and the area boasts bike paths and parks galore.

CVNP has more than 125 miles of hiking trails, according to the National Park Service.

The burb west of Chicago posted about 13,400 listings on Etsy last year.

Maplewood, New Jersey—home to colonial houses sitting beneath blossoming Magnolia trees—can make a suburban convert out of any hip New Yorker.

The Dallas burb's downtown area has won awards for being one of America’s best main streets, with family-owned small businesses lining the historic courthouse square.

There are old-school pizza spots, midnight screenings of classic movies, and a roving music festival called Porchfest that takes place on—well, porches across the Boston suburb.

Located just 15 miles from Charlotte, the suburb of Belmont boasts an enticing mix of culture, outdoor recreation, and friendly neighbors.

The idyllic first suburb north of Chicago is brimming with excitement and culture—full of restaurants, bars and beaches.

This Los Angeles suburb nestled in the San Gabriel Mountains is chock full of cultural gems that make it unique.

Kirkwood is more than just a suburb of St. Louis. It has its own unique identity and history, which residents treasure.

Round Rock, one of the fastest-growing cities of its size, has a constant outcrop of new restaurants, free live music, and events for sports fans—even for those into quidditch!

The burb's many transplants often say things like “I would’ve moved here a decade ago if I’d known how nice people are.”

I slept horribly my first night at 5427 Avenue de L’esplanade. Like most Montreal apartments, it was located in a decades-old building—and despite all the beautiful touches of its age, like crown molding and gorgeous hardwood flooring, it lacked air conditioning and was uncomfortably hot during the summer.

While it might not be as nightmarish as Toronto just yet, the real estate market in and around San Francisco has been getting worse for years. Here’s what homes are really selling for: The backstory: My cousin and her family have lived in Berkeley, Calif., for several years, renting because they couldn’t afford to buy there even five years ago.

Want to live like Mrs. Maisel? Then we have good news: an apartment in The Strathmore, the Upper West Side building where the show is set, is on the market. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel was a breakout hit show last year, winning two Golden Globes in January (for Best Musical or Comedy TV Series and Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy TV Series). And as lovers of space and design, we watched for the marvelous mid-century interiors as much as the brilliant acting and storytelling.

Luxury apartment buildings are getting more and more creative with their amenities. Take Market Square Tower in Houston, which goes beyond the usual doorman and fitness room. There’s a rooftop infinity pool that hangs over the edge of the building, and happens to also have a glass bottom. Dubbed “the tallest pool in Texas,” Market Square Tower’s sky pool is 43 stories above downtown Houston.

Driving to work can eat up your time, stress you out, and pollute the air. Worse, owning a car gets expensive. But in many cities across the U.S., you don’t have much of a choice—but some places allow you to sit back and let a bus, train, subway, or streetcar take you where you need to go. Some of the best places for those that don’t want to drive? New York, New York; Union City, New Jersey; and San Francisco, California, says Redfin’s 2019 Transit Score report.

Tired of telling your niece you can’t come to her birthday party out in the ‘burbs because you have to get some work done this weekend? Or maybe it’s more that you have too much time—like you’re underemployed and can’t partake in all the amazing opportunities your city offers? It may be time to move to a city with a better work-life balance. Might I suggest Provo-Orem, Utah?

A few years ago my husband was abruptly laid off. As a freelance writer, I can live anywhere, so when he wasn’t having any initial luck, he expanded his job search from our hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, to the whole country. And some interesting opportunities came up, including one in the Pacific Northwest. We talked about it pretty seriously–how cool would it be to fly off to Bangkok in 16 hours, instead of the literal days it takes to get there from Kentucky?

There is no shortage of things to see and do in the nine states that make up the Southeast (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia). I’ve loved living here for most of my life, and even decided to move back after a grand three-year adventure living in Alaska.

Like millions of Americans who graduated with more than $50,000 in student loan debt, I knew it’d be a serious challenge to start my career living in pricey Washington D.C. and pay off my loans. Recent stats show the District’s median rental cost for a one-bedroom apartment is an eye-popping $2,121. At the time, I was only earning $12/hour as a radio station assistant and an unreliable-but-similar rate nannying in the afternoon.

For some people, a big backyard is a priority—as in a backyard that boasts hundreds of miles of trails perfect for weekends spent hiking and exploring. You know of the biggies like the Rim-to-Rim in the Grand Canyon and The Narrows in Zion National Park. But there are several, lesser-known destinations throughout the United States where hiking is spectacular, thanks in part to preservation efforts, volunteers who groom the trails, and good ole’ Mother Nature.

Sure, New York has a new film festival every weekend and you’re practically guaranteed to run into a local actor any time step outside. And, of course, there’s the whole city of Los Angeles. But what if you’re a cinephile who doesn’t want to deal with traffic or the MTA? Thankfully, it’s not just the major cities that host all things silver screen.

If you’re thinking about buying a home this year, you’ve probably already come to terms with leaving city life behind to take advantage of those sweet suburban prices. But if you can’t bear to part with walkability, public transportation, a lively food and entertainment scene, or any other of the many benefits to living in a city, there is hope: Some cities are more hospitable to those entering the real estate market than others.

If you’ve been patting yourself on the back for living minimally in a studio apartment in the hopes of squirreling away a couple of hundreds of dollars every month for a down payment sometime in the future, brace yourself: I hate to break it to you, but you might actually be losing money. At least according to a new analysis from HotPads, a Zillow company that focuses on apartment searches, the median price for a one-bedroom apartment in most cities is actually cheaper than a studio.

According to a 2015 Urban Institute report, delayed marriage and student loan debt are the biggest factors holding millennials back from buying homes. But though the path to homeownership is rocky, many millennials still want that “American Dream.” In fact, according to the Census Bureau, nearly 37 percent of them already own homes.

These five places in the United States are especially noteworthy when it comes to being tiny home-friendly.

Is it cheaper to be a city dweller or a suburbanite? When it comes to real estate, the obvious answer is that, yes, it’s probably much cheaper to buy a home or rent in the suburbs. (Thank you, next!) But, wait just a second! When you start factoring in other costs of living, or you hone in on some housing markets, you may be surprised to find that in some cases, living in the ‘burbs can be more expensive than city life.

You’re more likely to see someone in Paris sporting a “Brooklyn” tee than a “Queens” one, but despite that (or maybe because of it), Queens’ greatest neighborhoods are among New York City’s most appealing right now (especially since Amazon’s HQ2 is moving in soon).

Surprisingly, there is still an affordable, diverse, and lively neighborhood in Brooklyn that hasn’t completely lost its sense of charm—and it’s where I live! Prospect Lefferts Gardens, aka PLG. I’d actually consider it Brooklyn’s last frontier—a largely untouched secret that still feels under control of its longterm residents. Located on the east side of Prospect Park, the garden-filled neighborhood is home to a wonderful community that really cares about it.

Like a lot of people, I grew up thinking that New York City was this magical place where all your dreams came true. In my fairytale, there was no gorgeous royal to sweep me off my feet—I was the princess, and New York was my one true love. When things were good, I pictured myself basking in the glow of the city lights. When things were bad, I told myself it would all go away once I got to New York.

Niagara Falls is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. The beautiful area straddling the New York-Canadian border is home to striking waterfalls; miles of hiking trails and fishing and boating on the Niagara River; as well as wineries, orchards, shopping, golfing, and restaurants.

Disneyland is dubbed the “Happiest Place on Earth,” and is a popular vacation destination for people from all over the world. Even celebrities love to spend the day at the magical theme park in Anaheim, California. But have you ever wondered what it would be like to live close enough to Disneyland that you could visit on a regular basis? For true Disney fanatics, owning a home in the area would be a dream come true.

With all the Brooklynites flocking to Silver Lake, Echo Park, or Los Feliz, you might be feeling the itch to get out of Central Los Angeles once and for all. Whether you’re looking for lower rents (the average rent across all of Los Angeles’s 272 neighborhoods is $2,251 a month, according to Rentcafé), homeownership opportunities (18 percent of homes in L.A. sell for over a million, according to Curbed), or just more space, there are a glut of nearby options.

We Midwesterners are known for our polite ways (except when it comes to… well, pretty much every major sport), but moving to NYC is a different playing field. Truly. This hits on all facets of life – decorating and more – and living here almost a decade (wow, let’s pretend I didn’t say that), I am more than able to speak to the differences of the two. Here we go.

When I moved to Boston for graduate school several years ago, my first apartment was inside a rundown 150-year-old mansion. The plumbing was shoddy, the bathroom reeked of mildew and the furnace liked to quit during snowstorms, but there was one incredible perk: A Trader Joe’s was only two blocks away. The ease of stopping to pick up a bag of yogurt pretzels and a $4 bottle of Chardonnay on my way home from class almost made the leaky roof worth it.

Looking for a new adventure and not sure what affordable city best suits you? We've connected all 16 Myers-Briggs personality types to their best-fitting city.

When you think of San Francisco, your first thoughts may be of cable cars and rows of houses on inclined streets. However, with one of the highest costs of living in the country, San Francisco housing prices can be as steep as its slanted streets. The average small apartment goes for more than $3,000 a month and median home prices top $1.5 million.

Texas is a big, big place—it takes an incredible 14 hours to drive across it!—which is why you need a solid game plan if you’re moving to the Lone Star State. Each of its cities and towns are unique, and all have different things to offer, depending on what you’re looking for. But whether you’re looking for the right spot to start your life or a bustling community to welcome you during your sunset years, there’s a vibrant place for you.

I’m a Southern California native who never meant to live in Los Angeles. I’ve now lived here twice—interrupted by a three-year stint in New York City. I’m asked about New York versus Los Angeles often enough that I now have a canned reply: I had a deep love affair with New York City, but Los Angeles and I are friends.

Mortgage marketplace Lending Tree recently ranked its best cities for first-time homebuyers, and the results are, well… let’s just say it’s great news if you’d like to live in Little Rock, Ark., which Lending Tree found to be the most hospitable U.S. city to first-time home buyers. Birmingham, Ala., Grand Rapids, Mich., Youngstown, Ohio, and Winston, N.C. rounded out the top five.

Last month was the fifth anniversary of Superstorm Sandy’s deadly, destructive rampage through New York and New Jersey, which killed 157 people and left $50 billion in damage in its wake. Unfortunately, New York City is still unprepared for an increasingly likely flood disaster, and it’s among the U.S. cities most at risk from rising sea levels in the coming decades. A new analysis by Zillow found that nearly 2 million U.S.

Have you ever daydreamed about moving somewhere totally new and starting over? If you ever decide to make those dreams reality, consider some of the world’s least stressful cities. A recent report by Zipjet ranks the stress level of cities around the globe based on several factors: Individuals feel stressed for different reasons, requiring our study to look at data from a macro level to determine the comprehensive well-being of a city’s population.

Folks, I’m here with some revolutionary news. Eating well and exercising is the best way to get in shape, and the secret to paying off debt is having extra money. But as simple and, yes, obvious as those solutions are, they’re actually really tough to put into practice. So if you’re someone living with debt, and looking for a way to make “extra money” come easier, you may want to consider a move.

While a six-figure salary might offer more than enough income to most households, believe it or not, there are still cities in the U.S. where $100K-a-year won’t get you far. For a recent report, “The Best and Worst Cities to Live On Six Figures,” Magnify Money analyzed 381 major cities across the country to see which ones offered the least financial wiggle room for two-earner households (with two adults and one child) with a gross annual income of $100K.

If you haven’t spent much time in Kansas City, you might not realize that it’s a city with a vibrant culture, tons of great food (barbecue, of course, but it goes beyond that, too) and friendly, creative people—but that’s exactly what it is. It’s an up-and-coming city with a lot to offer, so we asked KCMO residents to share what they love about their city, along with their recommendations for visitors and transplants.

You probably already know Philadelphia is a city rich with history and things to do, but unless you’ve experienced it first-hand, you might not know just how great Philly is—it’s more than just cheesesteaks and Rocky movies, it’s a big city with a tight-knit community feel that’s chock full of culture. Ask any local what they love about their city, and they’re sure to tell you the same (and more).

You can read a million lists about buying a home—and I could prattle on for days about the process myself—but the best advice anyone can probably offer is this: buy a home in a city that you love even more than the house itself. Never does this ring more true than when it comes to outdoorsy people.

From million-dollar condos to $8 beers, the bright lights of the big city don’t come cheap. In fact, living in New York City costs a family with young children $71,237 more per year than life in the surrounding suburbs. That’s according to a joint study by Zillow and Care.com that compared the costs of housing, property taxes, and childcare in major cities to their outlying suburbs.

Recently, we shared a study that reported the minimum salary you’d need to buy a home in a bunch of cities—New York included. Unsurprisingly, our readers had a lot to say about the subject. Let’s take a closer look at how New Yorkers are reacting to the real estate market in the Big Apple. The mortgage lender that released the study, HSH.com, concluded that the salary needed to buy in New York was $86,215, based on the median home price of $395,400.

It’s a fact of life that Times Square is never not teeming with lights, sounds, and people; it’s a permanently buzzing hub in a city that never sleeps. While the area surely has a high concentration of hotels, you might be surprised to learn that people actually live here permanently. According to the Times Square Alliance, 5,800 residents make their homes between Avenue of the Americas and Eighth Avenue, from West 41st to 53rd Streets.