Big coastal cities, such as New York and San Francisco, feature notoriously high rent prices and an expensive cost of living. But in their smaller Midwestern counterparts, like Indianapolis and Toledo, Ohio, things prove much, much cheaper.
And while a lower cost of living doesn't always equate to a higher quality of life, it can make a difference for those looking to stretch their paycheck.
Niche, a company that researches and compiles information on places to live, released its list of the US cities with the lowest cost of living in 2020.
The ranking focused primarily on the ratio of home values to income, median property taxes, median home values, median rent, and ratios of monthly housing cost to income for each place. It also took the price of gas, the price of groceries, and the ratio of the median rent to income into consideration. You can read a full breakdown of the methodology here.
The top 25 cities all fell within the Midwest, the South, and the Southwest, with a city in Texas earning the top spot.
Emmie Martin contributed to an earlier version of this article.