10 Cheapest, Safest Places To Live on the East Coast

John Csiszar
lunamarina / Shutterstock.com
lunamarina / Shutterstock.com

The East Coast has a reputation of being an expensive place to live for many, thanks to high-profile, expensive locales like Boston and New York City. But there are plenty of charming, affordable cities on the East Coast that also boast high livability scores and low crime rates.

Find Out: 5 Ways the Middle Class Can Build Wealth Over the Next 5 Years
Owe Money to the IRS? Most People Don’t Realize You Can Do This – Today

To determine which East Coast cities fit the bill, GOBankingRates analyzed data regarding population, crime rates, livability and costs of common expenses like rent, groceries, healthcare, utilities and transportation. Data was sourced from the FBI, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Zillow, AreaVibes and Sperling’s Best Places.

Here are the 10 cheapest, safest places to live on the East Coast, with the best picks coming last.

Staunton, Virginia

  • Monthly total cost: $3,287.52

Staunton is a cheap place to live, with average rents coming in at $1,485.83 and monthly expenditures for groceries, healthcare, utilities, transportation and miscellaneous reaching just $1,801.69, the lowest in the top 10. The city’s violent crime rate of 140.56 per 100,000, while still very low, is the highest in the top 10, preventing the city from scoring higher.

Port Orange, Florida

  • Monthly total cost: $3,999.20

Port Orange boasts a high livability index of 82 and a very low crime rate of 45.29 per 100,000, translating to just 29 violent crimes over the past year in the city of 64,037. Average monthly rents are just $2,049.77, and its miscellaneous costs of just $75.51 per month are the lowest in the top 10.

See: 7 Things the Upper Middle Class Can’t Afford Anymore

Concord, North Carolina

  • Monthly total cost: $3,732.78

Concord is the first of five North Carolina cities cracking the top 10, meaning you’ll have lots of options for affordable, safe living in the state. The city of 109,660 has a livability index of 79 and low overall costs, with average rents coming in at just $1,838.55.

Wake Forest, North Carolina

  • Monthly total cost: $3,894.89

Wake Forest is one of many North Carolina communities that provides a safe and affordable place to live, with an admirable livability index of 84. Rents average just $1,906.96 per month, and the property crime rate of 1043.11 per 100,000 residents is fairly low, amounting to just 536 instances over the past year in the city of 51,385.

Kingston, Pennsylvania

  • Monthly total cost: $3,277.88

Kingston has an incredibly low cost of living, due in large part to its average rent cost of just $1,341.64 per month. The small town of 14,232 residents reported just 12 violent crimes and 207 property crimes over the past year, one of the factors contributing to its high livability index of 80.

Holly Springs, North Carolina

  • Monthly total cost: $4,153.58

Holly Springs has the highest monthly total cost on this list, but residents enjoying its very high livability score of 85 are likely happy to pay for the privilege. Costs overall still remain low on a national basis, with average monthly rents of $2,203.86. The violent crime rate in Holly Springs is just 66.07 per 100,000 residents, translating to just 30 violent crimes over the past year for the city of 45,406.

Brunswick, Maine

  • Monthly total cost: $4,020.43

Like in Holly Springs, costs in Brunswick are toward the higher end of the top 10, but the city has an even higher livability score of 87. Rents average $2,116.67 per month and crime is low, with just 16 instances of violent crime over the past year in the city of 21,888. Healthcare is particularly affordable in Brunswick.

Apex, North Carolina

  • Monthly total cost: $4,031.20

Apex lives up to its name when it comes to its livability index, which shines bright at 87. Its low crime rate of 54.53 violent crimes per 100,000 people helps prop up that score. The city of 66,024 sports fairly low average monthly rents at just $2,093.71.

Blacksburg, Virginia

  • Monthly total cost: $3,983.73

If safety is a priority, Blacksburg could be your best bet. The city has both the lowest violent crime rate and property crime rate of any city in the top 10, at 43.72 and 581.43, respectively. Low transportation costs help contribute to Blacksburg’s affordability. The city of 45,749 also has an extraordinary livability index of 88, among the highest in the nation.

Cary, North Carolina

  • Monthly total cost: $3,736.10

Cary tops the charts when it comes to safe places to live on the East Coast that are also affordable. Both the violent crime rate and the property crime rate are well below the national average, while costs are quite low for a city of 178,600. In addition to average rent costs of just $1,820.71, the city’s livability index is an incredible 90, one of the very highest in the entire country.

Methodology: To find the cheapest and safest places to live on the East Coast, GOBankingRates analyzed states on the East Coast for cities across multiple factors including; [1] population, [2] violent crime by city, [3] property crime by city sourced from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Crime in the United States Annual Reports, [4] Livability index sourced from AreaVibes, [5] August 2023 average rental cost sourced from Zillow Observed Rental Index, [6] Grocery cost of living index, [7] Healthcare cost of living index, [8] Utilities cost of living index, [9] Transportation cost of living index, [10] Miscellaneous cost of living index all sourced from Sperlings BestPlaces. The cost of living index was multiplied by the national average cost for each expenditure category as sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey to find the average expenditure cost for each city. The average rent and the average expenditure cost for each city are added to find the total monthly cost to live in each city. The livability index was included as a factor to show generalized happiness in an area across factors such as; commute times, amenities available, healthcare available, school ratings, etc. Property crime and violent crime statistics were sourced and using the population of each city the crime rate per 100,000 could be calculated in order to more accurately compare cities. The property crime rate per 100,000 was scored and weighted at 1.50, the violent crime rate per 100,000 people was scored and weighted at 1.50, the average rent cost was scored and weighted at 1.25, the monthly expenditure cost was scored and weighted at 1.25, the livability index was scored and weighted at 1.00. All the scores were combined and sorted to show the cheapest and safest places to live on the East Coast. All data was collected and is up to date as of Oct. 17, 2023.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 10 Cheapest, Safest Places To Live on the East Coast

Advertisement