Robert Gauvreau, a CPA and founder of accountancy firm Gauvreau & Associates, noted that the median home value in New York City on Zillow.com is $652,307, while the median home value in Woodstock, New York — which has fewer than 6,000 people — is $388,412.
"As you can see, the average home value is approaching double for the larger city, however, the income discrepancy is not that large," he told Business Insider.
Ashley Madden, a remote business owner, experienced this benefit firsthand when she moved from Atlanta, Georgia, to a small town just outside of the city.
"In our last home in Atlanta, we paid about $1,500 a month for a one-bedroom apartment," Madden said. "Now, we pay $1,009 a month for our mortgage — including taxes, escrow, interest, and principle — for our three-bedroom, two-bath home on 1.5 acres. That's times cheaper."
Madden also said her property tax is cheaper outside of the city, which is true of some other small towns and cities. For example, the effective property tax rate in Tampa, Florida, in 2019 was 0.742%, while the rate in Hialeah, Florida, a smaller city, was 0.513%.