For Americans who want the water but don’t live on a coast, lakeside living is a special thing, and many people might want to settle somewhere with easy access to one. Fortunately, finding the perfect place to live just got easier, as GOBankingRates.com ranked the 20 most affordable U.S. cities and towns located on or near lakes.
The most affordable lake town in the U.S., according to their rankings, is Grenada, Mississippi. Located in north-central Mississippi, about 1.5 hours from both Jackson and Memphis, Grenada has a very low cost of living (just $2,493 a month) thanks in part to low average mortgage costs, which are around $708 a month. The average value of a single-family home is $123,711, and the median household income is $42,470.
The town offers easy access to the 90,000-plus-acre Grenada Lake, a reservoir popular for boating, fishing, swimming, and other outdoor activities. The town also features many parks and green spaces, a warm climate, classic Southern hospitality, and wildlife reserves. It’s also located on the Mississippi Blues Trail, which marks significant locations tied to the history and influence of blues music.
The South, Midwest, and Upper Midwest regions were particularly well-represented on the list. Coming in second is Ashtabula, Ohio, where the monthly cost of living is $2,524. The average single-family home value is $143,233, and the median household income is $43,782. The town is located on Lake Erie, about an hour’s drive northeast of Cleveland.
Third place went to Lorain, Ohio, located west of Cleveland, also on the shores of Lake Erie. Lorain has an average monthly mortgage of under $900 and a total monthly cost of living of $2,635. The average single-family home value is $151,018 and the median household income is $45,799. It’s the third most populous city among those ranked.
To determine the rankings, GOBankingRates identified the 20 most affordable lake towns by using selections from Travel + Leisure‘s Best Lake Towns in America, MSN’s Best Lake Towns to Live in America, and Thrillist’s Best Lake Town Destinations in America. Cost of living was based on data from Sperling’s BestPlaces, while average household expenditures were drawn from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Expenditure Survey. Home affordability was determined using the Zillow Home Value Index for single-family homes.
To see the full list, visit gobankingrates.com.
