Finance: America's most affordable cities in 2015

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Every day in coastal hot spots like San Francisco, New York, and Boston, it seems the news on housing costs is just abysmal. Professionals in these areas may earn higher paychecks, but many struggle with high rents—and for many, buying a house seems like an impossible dream. But in a host of Midwestern and Southern cities, the economic realities are a lot more palatable.

Take greater Birmingham, Ala. The median family income of $61,000 might be lower than the national average ($63,900), but prices for just about everything are lower there, too. During the fourth quarter of 2014 the median sales price for a home was $130,000, and about 81.5% of homes were affordable to families bringing in the area’s median pay. Paychecks stretch further all around: groceries cost about 5.4% less in Birmingham than the national average, transportation about 13.2%, and health care 16.6%.
Birmingham may not have Los Angeles’ beaches, but it probably has happier drivers, given that the average commute time by car is a mere 24 minutes, according to Brian Hilson, president of the Birmingham Business Alliance. The metro has a strong medical research industry centered at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the Southern Research Institute, and some 70 foreign companies, including Mercedes Benz and Honda, have facilities in and around Birmingham. “You get a lot for your money to live and work and do business in Birmingham,” says Hilson. We agree--Birmingham lands the No. 1 spot on our 2015 list of America’s Most Affordable Cities.
Behind the numbers
To find the Most Affordable cities, we started with America’s 100 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) and Metropolitan Divisions (MDs)—cities and their surrounding suburbs, as defined by the Office of Budget and Management--all with populations of 600,000 or more.
First we assessed housing affordability, using the latest (Q4 2014) Housing Opportunity Index(HOI) from the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo. The quarterly index weighs median prices for homes sold against median income levels to determine the percentage of homes that are affordable to residents making the median income (again, the national median is $63,900). Due to a lack of sufficient data, Baton Rouge and New Orleans, La., as well as Columbia, S.C.; Gary, Ind.; Kansas City, Mo.; Little Rock, Ark.; Nashville, Tenn.; and Omaha, Neb. had to be excluded from our results.
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Next we considered cost of living using an index developed by Sperling’s Best Places, which measures the cost of food, utilities, gas, transportation, medical expenses, and other daily expenses in each area. Finally, we weighted these factors, in line with the methodology the Bureau of Labor Statistics uses for the Consumer Price Index (where housing is weighted just under 32%). Since housing is such an important expense to most people, we tipped the scales slightly higher.

Why is the South so Cheap?
Perhaps not surprisingly, the majority of the cities on our Most Affordable list are located in the South or the Midwest. Only one Western city--Colorado Springs, Colo. (No. 11)--and one in the Northeast—Buffalo, N.Y. (No. 3)—make the list. And not a single city on the West Coast appears.
The Southern U.S. dominates with 11 metro areas, including three among the top five: Birmingham, Ala. (No. 1), Knoxville, Tenn. (No. 2), and Oklahoma City, Okla. (No. 4). Reasons for the South’s low cost-of-living are rooted in history. “The industry that was located in the South was mostly labor-intensive, compared to capital-intensive industry in the Midwest or on the East Coast,” says Ahmad Ijaz, director of economic forecasting at the University of Alabama’s Center for Business and Economic Research. “Wages in labor-intensive industries (an example of that would be textiles and apparel, or farming) are much lower than they are in capital-intensive industries. So that’s where the foundation of low costs started.”  Today, the legacy remains in the form of lower taxes, wages, housing, and daily expenses throughout much of the Southern region.
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But the Midwest is also strong, with eight cities on thelist. Half are in the state of Ohio alone: Cincinnati (No. 5), Dayton (No. 8), Columbus (No. 10), and Akron (No. 15).
Cincinnati boasts a $133,000 median home sale price, with 83.9% of housing affordable to families making the area’s median family income of $68,500 (notably, higher than the national average). Groceries cost about 4.6% than the national average, utilities 5.9% less, health care 0.3% less and miscellaneous daily costs about 7.2% less.
“There’s so much to do with the money you save,” says Brian Carley, President and CEO of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber. Among the options: cheering on the Cincinnati Reds and Bengals, taking in the area's thriving arts scene, dining at restaurants with James Beard awarded chefs, or visiting the southern stretch of the Ohio River known as “The Banks,” which has public parks, walking trails, and kids’ play areas. “Nobody’s looking to gouge anybody,” says Carley. “Instead, everything’s reasonably priced.”
Top 10:
1. Birmingham, Ala.
MSA: Birmingham-Hoover, AL
Median Family Income: $61,000
Q4 2014 median sales price: $130,000
Housing affordable at median family income: 81.5%
Cost Below (or Above) National Average: Groceries: 5.4%; Utilities: (3.5)%; Transportation: 13.2%; Health: 16.6%; Misc.: 2.6%
2. Knoxville, Tenn.
MSA: Knoxville, TN
Median Family Income: $60,500
Q4 2014 median sales price: $144,000
Housing affordable at median family income: 79.2%
Cost Below National Average: Groceries: 11.2%; Utilities: 7.7%; Transportation: 14.7%; Health: 7.7%; Misc.: 8.0%
3. Buffalo, N.Y.
MSA: Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY
Median Family Income: $63,900
Q4 2014 median sales price: $118,000
Housing affordable at median family income: 81.8%
Cost Below National Average: Groceries: 7.1%; Utilities: (7.1)%; Transportation: (2.4)%; Health: 11.8%; Misc.: 10.7%
4. Oklahoma City, Okla.
MSA: Oklahoma City, OK
Median Family Income: $61,400
Q4 2014 median sales price: $139,000
Housing affordable at median family income: 77.3%
Cost Below National Average: Groceries: 10.1%; Utilities: 10.1%; Transportation: 2.1%; Health: 6.0%; Misc.: 7.7%
5. Cincinnati, Ohio
MSA: Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN
Median Family Income: $68,500
Q4 2014 median sales price: $133,000
Housing affordable at median family income: 83.9%
Cost Below National Average: Groceries: 4.6%; Utilities: 5.9%; Transportation: (0.2)%; Health: 0.3%; Misc.: 7.2%
6. Memphis, Tenn.
MSA: Memphis, TN-MS-AR
Median Family Income: $56,700
Q4 2014 median sales price: $140,000
Housing affordable at median family income: 72.4%
Cost Below National Average: Groceries: 8.3%; Utilities: 12.9%; Transportation: 9.7%; Health: 5.0%; Misc.: 10.3%
7. St. Louis, Mo.
MSA: St. Louis, MO-IL
Median Family Income: $67,100
Q4 2014 median sales price: $140,000
Housing affordable at median family income: 85.9%
Cost Below National Average: Groceries: 2.2%; Utilities: (9.0)%; Transportation: 1.2%; Health: 0.9%; Misc.: 4.1%
8. Dayton, Ohio
MSA: Dayton, OH
Median Family Income: $60,200
Q4 2014 median sales price: $104,000
Housing affordable at median family income: 86.2%
Cost Below National Average: Groceries: 6.4%; Utilities: (7.6)%; Transportation: (1.7)%; Health: 11.8%; Misc.: (1.5)%
9. Indianapolis, Ind.
MSA: Indianapolis-Carmel, IN
Median Family Income: $64,300
Q4 2014 median sales price: $134,000
Housing affordable at median family income: 79.4%
Cost Below National Average: Groceries: 5.5%; Utilities: 4.8%; Transportation: 0.9%; Health: (3.6)%; Misc.: 2.2%
10. Columbus, Ohio (tie)
MSA: Columbus, OH
Median Family Income: $70,000
Q4 2014 median sales price: $167,000
Housing affordable at median family income: 69.4%
Cost Below National Average: Groceries: 8.1%; Utilities: 3.7%; Transportation: 1.4%; Health: 2.2%; Misc.: 10.2%

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