20 US Cities Where You Can Safely and Affordably Live Downtown
In some cities across the United States, living downtown isn’t particularly desirable for many people.
See: 7 Safest and Cheapest Cities To Live in Florida
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Downtown real estate can often be expensive, especially if most of a city’s cultural, entertainment and culinary options are there. Other downtowns are just the opposite, run-down areas where heavy industry has come and gone, leaving elevated crime rates in their wake.
But there are still plenty of cities in America that have the idyllic combination of being both affordable and safe. GOBankingRates set out to find just which cities those are by drawing data from sources ranging from the FBI and the U.S. Census Bureau to Numbeo and Google Maps. Results across all of these factors were calculated, sorted and weighted. Because data was compiled by ZIP code, you’ll find that some cities may appear more than once.
Here are the 20 U.S. cities where the downtown area is still affordable and safe to live in.
Grand Junction, Colorado (81501)
Total housing units: 11,174
1-bedroom rent: $1,100
3-bedroom rent: $1,867
Score (3-7): 5.7358
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Clearwater, Florida (33755)
Total housing units: 11,823
1-bedroom rent: $2,300
3-bedroom rent: $4,000
Score (3-7): 5.7453
Related: 6 Safest and Cheapest Cities To Live in Virginia
Columbia, South Carolina (29205)
Total housing units: 12,402
1-bedroom rent: $1,467
3-bedroom rent: $2,200
Score (3-7): 5.7834
Richmond, Virginia (23219)
Total housing units: 3,433
1-bedroom rent: $1,588
3-bedroom rent: $2,486
Score (3-7): 5.8116
Plano, Texas (75074)
Total housing units: 18,451
1-bedroom rent: $1,667
3-bedroom rent: $2,833
Score (3-7): 5.8232
Also: 10 Cheapest Cities To Live in North Carolina
Wilmington, North Carolina (28401)
Total housing units: 12,337
1-bedroom rent: $1,300
3-bedroom rent: $2,450
Score (3-7): 5.8388
Durham, North Carolina (27701)
Total housing units: 12,278
1-bedroom rent: $1,900
3-bedroom rent: $2,420
Score (3-7): 5.8561
Columbia, South Carolina (29201)
Total housing units: 11,713
1-bedroom rent: $1,467
3-bedroom rent: $2,200
Score (3-7): 5.8632
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Rochester, Minnesota (55902)
Total housing units: 11,832
1-bedroom rent: $1,481
3-bedroom rent: $2,083
Score (3-7): 5.8918
Fort Collins, Colorado (80524)
Total housing units: 16,402
1-bedroom rent: $1,750
3-bedroom rent: $2,975
Score (3-7): 5.9207
Columbia, South Carolina (29204)
Total housing units: 8,245
1-bedroom rent: $1,467
3-bedroom rent: $2,200
Score (3-7): 5.9598
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Sioux Falls, South Dakota (57103)
Total housing units: 15,074
1-bedroom rent: $1,125
3-bedroom rent: $2,167
Score (3-7): 5.9620
Bradenton, Florida (34205)
Total housing units: 16,043
1-bedroom rent: $1,500
3-bedroom rent: $1,800
Score (3-7): 5.9815
Boise, Idaho (83702)
Total housing units: 12,143
1-bedroom rent: $1,550
3-bedroom rent: $2,433
Score (3-7): 6.0761
Chandler, Arizona (85225)
Total housing units: 28,773
1-bedroom rent: $1,733
3-bedroom rent: $2,575
Score (3-7): 6.0799
Sioux Falls, South Dakota (57104)
Total housing units: 13,263
1-bedroom rent: $1,125
3-bedroom rent: $2,167
Score (3-7): 6.0896
Naperville, Illinois (60540)
Total housing units: 16,449
1-bedroom rent: $1,900
3-bedroom rent: $3,300
Score (3-7): 6.1909
Next: Why Florida’s Retirees Are Fleeing — And Where They’re Going Instead
Mesa, AZ (85201)
Total housing units: 23,238
1-bedroom rent: $1,734
3-bedroom rent: $2,500
Score (3-7): 6.1958
Peoria, Arizona (85345)
Total housing units: 23,822
1-bedroom rent: $1,055
3-bedroom rent: $1,733
Score (3-7): 6.5242
Huntsville, Alabama (35801)
Total housing units: 11,518
1-bedroom rent: $1,436
3-bedroom rent: $1,775
Score (3-7): 6.7200
Methodology: GOBankingRates used Google Maps, individual city websites and websites devoted specifically to a city’s downtown to determine the area considered “downtown” in each city in this study. ZIP codes were used to approximate downtown areas. With downtown ZIP codes identified, the study analyzed 95 downtowns in terms of the following criteria: (1) median selected monthly owner costs for units with a mortgage as sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2022 American Community Survey 5-year estimates (data for ZCTAs used), (2) median gross rent for a one bedroom, (3) median gross rent for a three bedroom, (4) monthly average net income, (5) monthly cost of utilities, (6) monthly cost of public transport as sourced from Numbeo, (7) Property Crimes, and (8) violent crimes as sourced from FBI’s crime data explorer. The one bedroom and three bedroom rents were averaged to find a comfortable rent price to compare to. The violent and property crime rates were calculated into violent crime rate per 100,000 people and property crime rate per 100,000. The selected monthly owner cost was scored and weighted at 1.25, the average monthly net income was scored and weighted at 1.00, the average rent was scored and weighted at 1.00, the utilities cost was scored and weighted at 0.75, the public transport cost was scored and weighted at 0.75, the violent crime rate per 100,000 was scored and weighted at 1.25, and the property crime rate was scored and weighted at 1.25. All the scores were combined and sorted to show the safest and most affordable US cities where you can live downtown. All data was collected and is up to date as of Oct. 25, 2023.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 20 US Cities Where You Can Safely and Affordably Live Downtown
