INDIANA (WANE) – When choosing a place to live, affordability is a top concern for most people, and a new ranking from U.S. News and World Report may help narrow the search for a cheaper home.
The study looked at which metro areas across the nation are the most affordable to live in. In that 2023 study, Fort Wayne ranked among the cheapest places to live in the country.
Fort Wayne recently moved up a spot and is the 83rd largest American city. As Indiana’s second largest municipality with a population of 267,927; Fort Wayne grew by 1,555 residents for a 0.6% increase from 2021. In addition, Fort Wayne was also ranked in the top 10 for most square footage for $1,500. These recent chart changes bring attention to Fort Wayne’s growing nature along with questions on affordability.
As part of the study, the group assessed how much of a household’s annual income went toward the average cost of owning or renting a home, including utilities and taxes, as well as price parity, which compares the cost of goods and services nationwide.
Additionally, because affordability was a top concern for residents, the company used it as a key metric to calculate its Best Places to Live ranking.
What are the top 10 most affordable places to live?
These are the 10 metro areas that made the list:
- Hickory, North Carolina
- Youngstown, Ohio
- Huntington, West Virginia, and Ashland, Kentucky
- Huntsville, Alabama
- Fort Wayne, Indiana
- Beaumont, Texas
- Peoria, Illinois
- Green Bay, Wisconsin
- Quad Cities – Davenport-Bettendorf, Iowa, and Moline-Rock Island, Illinois
- Knoxville, Tennessee
Fort Wayne held the fifth spot despite Rent.com data showing that the city’s rental market rose in the last year. Apartments in Fort Wayne are expected to rent between $949 and $1,504 on average in 2023. It costs about $949 per month to rent a studio apartment in Fort Wayne. One-bedroom apartments in Fort Wayne rent for approximately $1,275 a month on average, while the average rent for a 2-bedroom apartment is $1,504.
Additionally, Fort Wayne’s housing market slightly rose from last year, according to data from Redfin, a real estate brokerage. Fort Wayne home prices jumped 0.8% from a year ago, selling for a median price of $182,000 in April.
While it didn’t crack the top 10, another Indiana metro made the top 25 list. That metro area is South Bend, Indiana, ranking 14th on the list.
Interestingly enough, Green Bay, Wisconsin also ranked in another study from U.S. News and World Report as the best place to live in the country. However, a recent ranking of safest cities showed not a single city in Wisconsin cracked the top ten.
