20 Cities With the Biggest Cost of Living Decrease in 2017

Having a low cost of living index is great, but if costs are rising quickly in your city, you could easily find yourself outpriced shortly after moving.

To help you gauge the cost of living across the country, GOBankingRates combined Numbeo’s cost of living change — for things like groceries and utilities — and the rent and housing price changes in each city as reported by Zillow. Click through to see this cost-of-living comparison.

20. Vancouver, Wash.

Cost of living decrease 2017: -1.7 percent
Year-over-year change in rent: 4.4 percent
Year-over-year change in home prices: 14.5 percent

Vancouver would have placed much higher in the study, but its 1.7 decline in general costs of living is offset by increases in rent and home price increases. After a 14.5 percent increase, you’re looking at a median home list price of almost $315,000.

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19. Irvine, Calif.

Cost of living decrease 2017: 0 percent
Year-over-year change in rent: 2 percent
Year-over-year change in home prices: 10.6 percent

Your general living costs in Irvine didn’t change from 2016 to 2017, which is a win for low costs when you consider inflation. However, rental prices increased about $60 a month to $3,188, and home list prices jumped to almost $920,000. So, while costs aren’t skyrocketing, Irvine isn’t one of the most affordable places to live.

18. Durham, N.C.

Cost of living decrease 2017: -1.6 percent
Year-over-year change in rent: 3.2 percent
Year-over-year change in home prices: 10.1 percent

Durham’s cost of living changes look very similar to Irvine’s, with Durham’s general costs declining a bit more and rent prices rising a bit more. But the dollar amounts are much different. Durham’s median rent is under 50 percent of Irvine’s rent, and the median list price is under $270,000.

17. Washington D.C.

Cost of living decrease 2017: -0.2 percent
Year-over-year change in rent: 3.9 percent
Year-over-year change in home prices: 0.2 percent

The cost of living in the nation’s capital went down in the past year, but that doesn’t mean it’s cheap. Washington D.C. had the third-highest median list price and third-highest rental prices of cities included in the study after Irvine and San Francisco.

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16. Grand Rapids, Mich.

Cost of living decrease 2017: -4 percent
Year-over-year change in rent: 4.1 percent
Year-over-year change in home prices: 11.4 percent

Grand Rapids would place higher than 16th if this study looked at actual dollar figures rather than percentage changes. Even with a double-digit increase in the median list price, it’s still under $145,000 — almost a quarter of the median list price of Washington D.C., and only higher than Allentown and Des Moines.

15. Dallas

Cost of living decrease 2017: -2.7 percent
Year-over-year change in rent: 4.5 percent
Year-over-year change in home prices: 5.3 percent

Dallas’ general costs declined almost 3 percent, which was only good for it to place 12th on the list. Though rent and home prices increased by 4.5 percent and 5.3 percent respectively, the median rent is still under $1,500 per month and the median list price is less than $390,000.

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14. Chicago

Cost of living decrease 2017: -0.9 percent
Year-over-year change in rent: -0.2 percent
Year-over-year change in home prices: 9.2 percent

Chicago saw general living costs decline by almost 1 percent between 2016 and 2017. Rental prices also declined slightly, but you’re still looking at paying almost $1,700 per month for an apartment. If you have a rent budget of only $1,000, you won’t get much in Chicago.

13. West Palm Beach, Fla.

Cost of living decrease 2017: -1.3 percent
Year-over-year change in rent: 1.4 percent
Year-over-year change in home prices: 5.3 percent

West Palm Beach ranks 13th overall. Though the percentage increases for rental and home prices weren’t too large, housing costs in West Palm Beach were already expensive. Median home list prices of just under $290,000 placed it at 14th overall, and rental prices of just over $1,600 put it at 16th overall in this ranking.

12. Madison, Wis.

Cost of living decrease 2017: -3.4 percent
Year-over-year change in rent: 2.3 percent
Year-over-year change in home prices: 6 percent

Madison finds itself in the middle of the rankings across the board. Even with the 6 percent increase in housing list prices, the median home price is still below $265,000. If you prefer to rent, the median rent is just over $1,500.

11. Houston

Cost of living decrease 2017: -0.3 percent
Year-over-year change in rent: -0.7 percent
Year-over-year change in home prices: -1.5 percent

Coming in at No. 11, Houston is the only city with declines in all three categories, though all three are quite modest at 1.5 percent or less. In fact, a separate GOBankingRates study found Houston is one of the major cities where home prices are plummeting. However, even with the decline, Houston still had the sixth-highest median listing price for homes.

10. Huntsville, Ala.

Cost of living decrease 2017: -6.3 percent
Year-over-year change in rent: 0.4 percent
Year-over-year change in home prices: 18.2 percent

A 6.3 percent drop in the general cost of living earned Huntsville a slot in the top 10. Median rents are still remarkably low at less than $1,000. However, if you haven’t already bought a home, Huntsville posted the largest percentage gain of any city on the list: 18.2 percent.

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9. Des Moines, Iowa

Cost of living decrease 2017: -2.2 percent
Year-over-year change in rent: -1.2 percent
Year-over-year change in home prices: 4.1 percent

If you like Midwest living, Des Moines comes in the top 10 with declines in both general costs of living and median rent prices. And despite a jump of just over 4 percent, Des Moines’ median home list price is still under $130,000.

8. San Francisco

Cost of living decrease 2017: -1.4 percent
Year-over-year change in rent: -3.7 percent
Year-over-year change in home prices: 4 percent

Despite a high overall cost of living, San Francisco makes this list because the costs didn’t increase much. San Francisco had the largest decline in rental prices, though its median rent of $4,306 was still the highest of any city mentioned. Similarly, despite a modest 4 percent rise in median list prices for homes, you’re still looking at almost $1.2 million to buy.

7. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Cost of living decrease 2017: -3.3 percent
Year-over-year change in rent: -3.5 percent
Year-over-year change in home prices: 10.1 percent

If you have your heart set on living in Florida, Fort Lauderdale is your best option in this survey. If you’re renting, Fort Lauderdale is even more attractive because the median rent dropped by over $65 per month. But, if you’re looking to buy, the city has become less attractive, with median home list prices rising over $45,000 to almost half a million.

6. Knoxville, Tenn.

Cost of living decrease 2017: -11.8 percent
Year-over-year change in rent: 9.4 percent
Year-over-year change in home prices: 11.3 percent

Knoxville’s place on the list was earned by posting a double-digit drop in its general costs of living from 2016 to 2017. Though Knoxville’s rental prices jumped by almost 10 percent, it still has the third least expensive rents of any city on this list.

5. Fort Worth, Texas

Cost of living decrease 2017: -9 percent
Year-over-year change in rent: 4.4 percent
Year-over-year change in home prices: 11.3 percent

If you’re already living in Fort Worth, your budget is breathing a sigh of relief as general living expenses declined by 9 percent. The rental market is hot, with the rent prices rising by the third-highest percentage of any city in the survey. If you’re looking to buy, Fort Worth’s housing prices made the fifth-highest percentage jump of any city on the list.

4. Fort Collins, Colo.

Cost of living decrease 2017: -4.2 percent
Year-over-year change in rent: -1.9 percent
Year-over-year change in home prices: 5.5 percent

Fort Collins just missed the medal stand, despite declines in general costs of living excluding housing and an almost 2 percent decline in rental prices, the third-largest decline of any city on this list. Though housing list prices did go up, it was the seventh-smallest increase of any city on this list.

3. Wichita, Kan.

Cost of living decrease 2017: -7 percent
Year-over-year change in rent: 1.3 percent
Year-over-year change in home prices: 6.3 percent

Wichita takes the bronze in this study, led by its fifth-highest decline in general costs of living excluding housing. Wichita’s increases for rent and home listing prices were both the ninth-lowest in the study. Another study found Wichita is one of the cities where you can live off of less than $50,000 a year.

2. Allentown, Pa.

Cost of living decrease 2017: -10.3 percent
Year-over-year change in rent: 3.2 percent
Year-over-year change in home prices: 9 percent

Allentown finishes second, driven by having the third-highest cost of living excluding housing decline behind Las Vegas and Knoxville. The rental increase was just outside the top half of cities, and the change in home prices was right in the middle.

1. Las Vegas

Cost of living decrease 2017: -15.9 percent
Year-over-year change in rent: 3.3 percent
Year-over-year change in home prices: 15.3 percent

Las Vegas tops this list of cities with the biggest decrease in its cost of living, which was driven by lower overall expenses. The 15.9 percent decline in costs of living excluding housing was the biggest decline of any city. However, the housing market heated up. Rental prices increased modestly, but list prices for homes increased by a higher percentage than any other city in this list except Huntsville.

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Methodology: GOBankingRates determined the top 20 major U.S. cities with the biggest decrease in cost of living based on three factors: 1) overall cost of living decrease year over year from 2016 through 2017, sourced from Numbeo.com; 2) increase or decrease in median rent year-over-year, from September 2016 to September 2017, sourced from Zillow; and 3) increase in median home prices, from September 2016 to September 2017, sourced from Zillow.

About the Author

Michael Keenan

Michael Keenan is a writer based in the Kansas City area, specializing in personal finance, taxation, and business topics. He has been writing since 2009 and has been published by Quicken, TurboTax and The Motley Fool.

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