Cheapest Place to Live in America

I was chatting with a good friend on Skype who had made one big move from what was once considered one of the Best Places to Live in America to one of the Cheapest Places to Live in America. It got me thinking about this dialogue we've had going for over three years now - not with him - but with you and me! Yes, you - here on this blog.

We started the discussion years ago when I moved to Panama. At that time America was getting so expensive and so filled with greed that the slogan, 'Escape from America' became a catch phrase. A few years and one big course correction later and we find America is in fact one of the cheapest and of course one of the best places to live. According to International Living Magazine we're back on top - #1 as the best place for Quality of Life. But America is one big place and we all known there is as much variation within this great country as there is land mass.

Americans on the Move

Yes many Americans are trading in their high cost city living on the coasts for laid back and cheaper lifestyles in mid and central America. States like North Carolina and Colorado are growing like weeds. Inland spots like Fort Worth Texas, upper Louisiana and Georgia are growing too.

Cheapest Places in America

On the Pacific side of the U.S. Spokane WA and Modesto CA are ranked highest as cheap places to live. I wrote a while back about Greeley CO and its attraction for those searching out a lower cost of living. If living in the eastern states is where you want to be checkout Knoxville TN or Louisville KY. Not fear of a little snow and cold weather in the winter? Head north to Ann Arbor MI or the burbs of Detroit like Farmington Hills.

And accoding to Forbes Magazine the Cheapest Place to Live in America - Manchester-Nashua New Hampshire. Albeit the Forbes data is a little, well.. dated! They put that piece out in 2009.