What life is really like in the cheapest place in the US, where the typical home costs $110,000 and the Appalachian Mountains are in your backyard

Hillary Hoffower

Mar 2, 2019, 20:15 IST

What life is really like in the cheapest place in the US, where the typical home costs $110,000 and the Appalachian Mountains are in your backyard

Steve Heap/Shutterstock

The Beckley metro area is full of history, nature, and affordability.

The Beckley, West Virginia, metro area is the cheapest place to live in the US.
The median home price is $110,000 and there are plenty of free entertainment and outdoor recreational activities, contributing to a low cost of living.
The metro has a small-town vibe, but also serves as a healthcare and education hub.

Beckley, West Virginia, is the epitome of small-town America.

The metro area takes pride in its involved community, is rich in history, has a main street, and is the cheapest place to live in the US.

Its cost of living is so low that half of all houses there are valued under $100,000, and the majority of homeowners don't have a mortgage. Located in southern West Virginia along the Appalachian Mountains, the metro is also a prime spot for free outdoor activities, from rock climbing and hiking to whitewater rafting.

Beckley also has a connection with nature, thanks to its mining history. The area has its own coal mine, and mining makes up part of its workforce. Home to several hospitals and colleges, including West Virginia Tech, the area is also a prime center for healthcare and education.

Here's a look inside Beckley:

The Beckley, West Virginia, metro is home to 118,543 people.

The metro area consists of two counties: Raleigh County and Fayette County.

Raleigh County is known as the hub of southern West Virginia, home to the city of Beckley.

Founded in the 1800s, Beckley's history dates back two centuries.

Like many historic places in the south, Beckley's location played a role in the Civil War. It housed living quarters and camp areas for soldiers.

Part of its history is also rooted in mining. Called "The City with a Mine of Its Own," Beckley has the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine — a real but not currently in service mine.

Jill Moorefield, events director for Beckley, told Business Insider the mine is an "important stop on the Coal Heritage Trail," attracting around 50,000 visitors a year.

Visitors travel 1,500 feet beneath the ground on "mine cars" in a tour guided by veteran miners, she said.

Tourism is just one of the areas Beckley thrives on — it's also heavy in technology and transportation. In 2017, the area's GDP grew 9.6%, to more than $4.47 billion or $37,775 per capita.

It's only fitting that almost 7% of the metro's workforce works in mining, agriculture, forestry, and fishing and hunting.

But educational services, healthcare, and social assistance comprises the biggest industry in the metro — 26.3% of the workforce.

The metro's median household income is $42,493, and the most popular jobs earn more.

The most popular occupations in Beckley are office manager, physician assistant, and family nurse practitioner, which pay between $47,500 and $90,000 a year.

Just over 12% of residents earn $100,000 or more.

Some of metro's most popular employers include the Beckley VA Medical Center and Appalachian Regional, Healthcare, Inc.

With three hospitals in the area and several clinics, Beckley is a "healthcare center for the area," Moorefield said.

Another popular employer is West Virginia University Institute of Technology (WVU), which has 1,623 undergraduate students enrolled for the 2018-2019 school year.

WVU Tech offers nationally renowned engineering programs and STEM majors, as well as plenty of sports: volleyball, soccer, swimming, track and field, baseball, softball, and basketball, student Michelle Polverini told Business Insider.

The 170-acre rural campus hosts organized events throughout the year, like food-eating competitions, concerts, and talent shows, according to Polverini.

"Life on campus is good even though it's a really tiny campus and a really small town," Polverini said.

The metro is also home to New River Community & Technical College, the University of Charleston, Valley College, and Appalachian Bible College.

"The Beckley-Raleigh County area has become a center for higher education with access to a variety of colleges and universities," Moorefield said.

"We want to make Beckley a cool college town," Robert Rappold, Beckley's mayor, told Business Insider.

Roughly half of all homes have three bedrooms and are valued under $100,000; only 169 houses, or 0.5% of the total housing stock, are worth $1 million.

The metro's median home listing price is $110,000.

In contrast, the median listing price of homes in the US is $275,000.

A little more than half of homeowners don't have a mortgage. Those that do pay median monthly costs of $874.

Renting is also affordable — the median rent price in the metro area is $798, lower than the median rent of $950 in West Virginia.

That's half of the national median rent in the US — $1,600.

While half of all Beckley renters pay $500 to $999 in rent, 41% pay less than $500. That leaves less than 10% paying $1,000 or more.

But residents don't spend all their time at home. Arts and entertainment are important in Beckley — the Smithsonian Magazine honored Beckley as one of the top 20 small towns for cultural enrichment, Moorefield said.

There's the Theatre West Virginia and Beckley Art Center...

...and the Beckley Concert Association and Wildwood House Museum.

There are also a ton of festivals that bring the community together, like the Appalachian Festival and Chili Night...

...and the Beckley Kids Classic Festival.

Beckley also hosts an annual Veteran's Day Parade...

...and a Christmas Parade.

Located in the Appalachian mountain range, the metro also has plenty of outdoor and recreational activities to enjoy when there's not a local event going on.

"Active south West Virginia offers many free activities to involve the community in exercise and healthy living," Moorefield said.

"[Beckley] has a three-mile paved rail trail known as the McManus Trail that runs through the heart of the city for hiking and biking," she added.

Moorefield said numerous hiking trails are being developed in the Piney Creek Gorge and Beckley Mill area.

There's also the famous New River and New River Gorge Bridge in Fayette County.

Here, visitors can hike, bike, climb rock walls...

...and go whitewater rafting.

Nearby is the Midland Trail Scenic Byway, home to the Cathedral Falls. One Yelp reviewer called it "New River Gorge's best kept secret."

The Cathedral Falls drop nearly 100 feet over a series of sandstone ledges.

There are also tons of parks. Burning Rock Outdoor Adventure Park has off-road trails, a zipline, camping, and cabins.

Raleigh County is also home to Winterplace Ski Resort, West Virginia's largest snow-tubing park. It has 27 trails and nine lifts.

Beckley may be southern West Virginia's largest city, but it's full of small-town charm.

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