The 25 US cities with the lowest cost of living

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, 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, recently released its list of the US cities with the lowest cost of living. The ranking - which assessed more than 220 cities with populations of more than 100,000 - focused primarily on the ratio of home values to income, median property taxes, median home values, median rent, and monthly housing cost to income ratios for each place. It also took the price of gas, the price of groceries, the median rent to income ratio into consideration. Read a full breakdown of the methodology here.

The top 25 cities all fell within two regions: the Midwest and the South, with a city in Indiana earning the top spot. Check out the rest of the list below.