Living like a millionaire is a state of mind even in today’s housing market. Check out these 12 cities that ranked the most affordable and where, according to GoBankingRates’ latest study, you can live like a millionaire on a national average wage of just above $49,000/year.
1. El Paso, TX – required income $40,024 – desert town of 2.7M people on the border with Mexico; +300 days of sunshine/year; second safest metro in country; close to state and national parks
2. Springfield, Missouri – required income $40,834 – near Ozark Mountain range; home to Missouri State University; booming arts/music scene
3. Lubbock, TX – required income $43,201 – northwest TX town with 252,000 people and home to Texas Tech University; dozens of museums, galleries, monuments including the home-town Buddy Holly Center
4. Albuquerque, NM – $43,573 – high desert town with strong Native American and Spanish history, culture and presence; +300 days of sunshine; great festival, museum, music and natural parks/recreation scenes
5. Detroit, MI – required income $43,473 – sustained effort to rebuild the “motor city” is paying off in jobs in tech, biomedical research and international corporate relocations and in surging arts and music scenes
6. Spokane, WA – required income $44,080 – approximately 300 miles east of Seattle and 200 miles south of Canadian border with easy access to wealth of recreation facilities, hiking and camping; motto is “near nature, near perfect”
7. Wichita, KS – required income $44,776 – largest city in Kansas; wealth of museums and cultural events; 7th largest zoo in country
8. Fresno, CA – required income $44,838 – influx of former Angelinos and San Franciscans seeking affordability and pleasures of destinations like Yosemite National Park, El Capitan, Shinzen Japanese Garden, Underground Garden, etc.
9. Bloomington, IN – required income $45,663 – 7th largest city in IN and home to Indiana University; very child friendly; easy access to outdoors
10. Cincinnati, Ohio – required income – $45,702 – midwestern riverfront town with thriving sports and cultural scene including the Cincinnati Bengals, Cincinnati Reds and outdoor shopping-food hubs
11. Reno, NV – required income – $46,269 – “biggest little city in the world” is larger and more affordable than Las Vegas; booming tech hub; Lake Tahoe; largest concentration of ski facilities in the world
12. Tucson, AZ – required income – $46,310 – surrounded on all sides by mountain ranges; University of Arizona; tech scene; miles of great Mexican restaurants
