Motley Fool Money has released a new report claiming McKinney is the “most affordable” city in the country.
McKinney’s low cost of living relative to the city’s median household income earned it the top spot. Another North Texas city, Plano, also made the top 10, ranking No. 6 nationwide.
“Average salaries and costs of living vary wildly across the United States. The most affordable cities hit the sweet spot by having comparatively high salaries combined with a low cost of living,” read the report.
The ranking compared median household income to cost-of-living data across hundreds of U.S. cities. The higher the estimated income-to-expense ratio, the more affordable the city was considered.
Based on a cost-of-living estimate of $75,348 and a median household income of $116,654, McKinney’s income-to-expense ratio was estimated at 1.55. The second-highest estimated income-to-expense ratio in the country was Morristown, NJ, at 1.44, followed by Edmond, OK, at 1.42.
“McKinney, Texas, a suburb of Dallas-Fort Worth, is the most affordable city in the United States by Motley Fool Money’s calculations. McKinney boasts a cost-of-living index three points below the national average, while residents earn a median income 43% higher than the national median,” the report stated.
According to Motley Fool, McKinney is an attractive city for Americans in the middle of their career. The city has an average age of 37 with median property values of $440,000, roughly $20,000 higher than the national median home sales price.
Plano, the sixth-most-affordable city in the county, was given an estimated income-to-expense ratio of 1.28 based on a cost-of-living estimate of $84,931 and a median household income of $108,594.
Despite its overall cost-of-living index being shy of the report’s cutoff, the city’s high median household income compensated for the higher living expenses.
Manhattan, NY, was ranked by far the most expensive city in the United States with a cost-of-living index of 230.6, followed by Honolulu, HI, at 186.8, and San Jose, CA, at 180.6.