30 Most Affordable Downtowns To Live In Across America

When it comes to living costs, America’s 30 most populous downtowns are far from equal.

To rank the nation’s 30 largest downtowns from least to most affordable, GOBankingRates researched the most populous zip codes in downtown areas and scored them based on each city’s cost of living, median household income, median rent, average basic utilities cost and average monthly transportation costs.

When reviewing each city’s overall cost-of-living index, keep in mind that the national median score is 100. The higher a city’s overall cost-of-living index is over 100, the less affordable it is.

You may not be surprised to see that the three least affordable downtowns — and four of the top seven least affordable — are located in notoriously expensive California. Four of the 11 least expensive downtowns can be found in Texas. Here are the final rankings.

• Total city population: 851,036
• Overall cost-of-living index: 245.50
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 0.8750

• Total city population: 1,001,176
• Overall cost-of-living index: 231.00
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 0.9688

• Total city population: 1,383,987
• Overall cost-of-living index: 154.90
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 1.2759

• Total city population: 8,622,467
• Overall cost-of-living index: 172.50
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 1.3549

• Total city population: 665,945
• Overall cost-of-living index: 150.80
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 1.6200

• Total city population: 734,603
• Overall cost-of-living index: 158.10
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 1.8922

• Total city population: 3,881,041
• Overall cost-of-living index: 161.70
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 1.9752

• Total city population: 646,101
• Overall cost-of-living index: 127.70
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 2.1615

• Total city population: 710,800
• Overall cost-of-living index: 127.60
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 2.2981

• Total city population: 670,587
• Overall cost-of-living index: 151.90
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 2.3291

• Total city population: 1,300,642
• Overall cost-of-living index: 100.20
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 2.5040

• Total city population: 875,045
• Overall cost-of-living index: 102.50
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 2.5405

• Total city population: 1,593,208
• Overall cost-of-living index: 104.30
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 2.6262

• Total city population: 924,663
• Overall cost-of-living index: 101.50
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 2.6673

• Total city population: 1,609,456
• Overall cost-of-living index: 113.00
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 2.7107

• Total city population: 681,088
• Overall cost-of-living index: 85.50
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 2.8315

• Total city population: 2,721,914
• Overall cost-of-living index: 105.70
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 2.8388

• Total city population: 882,006
• Overall cost-of-living index: 85.70
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 2.8443

• Total city population: 644,835
• Overall cost-of-living index: 110.60
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 2.8492

• Total city population: 958,202
• Overall cost-of-living index: 129.10
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 2.8804

• Total city population: 2,296,253
• Overall cost-of-living index: 96.90
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 2.9026

• Total city population: 684,103
• Overall cost-of-living index: 104.70
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 2.9341

• Total city population: 636,787
• Overall cost-of-living index: 91.80
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 2.9799

• Total city population: 902,449
• Overall cost-of-living index: 91.40
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 3.0261

• Total city population: 1,445,662
• Overall cost-of-living index: 91.30
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 3.0984

• Total city population: 629,176
• Overall cost-of-living index: 89.80
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 3.1123

• Total city population: 677,181
• Overall cost-of-living index: 81.90
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 3.1222

• Total city population: 584,548
• Overall cost-of-living index: 92.60
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 3.2307

• Total city population: 950,203
• Overall cost-of-living index: 95.70
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 3.4093

• Total city population: 630,027
• Overall cost-of-living index: 85.80
• Total score factoring in all expenses: 3.4868

Jami Farkas and John Csiszar contributed to the reporting for this article.

Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates analyzed the top 30 U.S. cities in terms of population as sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. The ZIP code with the most population in each of the cities was recorded, along with the population. Using the RandyMajors.org ZIP Codes Map, the ZIP codes in downtown areas were recorded. For each of those ZIP codes, the total population was determined through the American Community Survey. The cost-of-living index for each city was sourced from Sperlings BestPlaces. The median household income and median rent cost were sourced from the American Community Survey. The average basic utilities cost and average monthly transportation costs were sourced from Numbeo’s Cost of Living. The cost-of-living index, the rent cost, the transportation cost and the utilities cost were each scored and weighted at 1.00. All the scores were summed and sorted to show the most affordable downtowns among U.S. cities with the largest populations. All data was collected on and is up-to-date as-of April 3, 2024.