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Living in a big city in America often comes at a price. Given the cost of living rising across the country, as well as a record-high increase in inflation, finding a place to settle down and call home could hit your wallet hard.
Kiplinger searched the country to find the cheapest places to live, and one city in Louisiana made the cut. According to the report:
"We compiled our rankings of America's 25 cheapest cities based on the Council for Community and Economic Research's (C2ER) calculations of living expenses in 267 urban areas. We then limited ourselves to metro areas with at least 50,000 inhabitants."
So which Louisiana city is considered one of the cheapest places to live in America?
Lake Charles
Coming in at No. 21 overall, Lake Charles is the cheapest metro area in Louisiana and one of the most inexpensive cities to live in the country thanks to its cost of living 14.5% below the U.S. average. The report notes, however, that Lake Charles' 16.5% poverty rate is higher than the national average of 12.8%.
This Southwest Louisiana locale has a median household income of $52,986, median home value of $159,600 and unemployment rate of 4.2%.
Here are the Top 10 cheapest U.S. cities to live:
- Kalamazoo, Michigan
- Harlingen, Texas
- McAllen, Texas
- Jackson, Mississippi
- Amarillo, Texas
- Anniston, Alabama
- Knoxville, Tennessee
- Joplin, Missouri
- Augusta-Aiken, Georgia/South Carolina
- Kokomo, Indiana
Check out Kiplinger's report to see the cheapest cities to live around the country.