7 Best Places to Live Cheaply

These locations boast some of the lowest living costs in the nation. They also have highly rated schools and low unemployment and crime rates.

No. 1: Sandusky, Ohio

Sandusky, Ohio, is a city with million-dollar water views and a whole lot of $100,000 houses. With a median family income of $64,000 and median home-selling price of $76,000, this city on Lake Erie, midway between Cleveland and Toledo, could be the most affordable housing market in the country.

Throw in highly rated schools and a low crime rate, and Sandusky tops the 2011 Forbes list of America's best cheap cities.

To produce the list, we started with the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Affordability Index, where Sandusky ranked sixth behind such cities as Kokomo, Ind., Elkhart, Ind., and Springfield, Ohio. Then we screened for the things homebuyers want to go along with a cheap house: low cost of living, from Moody's Economy.com; low violent crime rate, from the FBI; low unemployment rate, from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics; and school quality, from GreatSchools.

No. 2: Monroe, Mich.

Median income: $69,000
Median house price: $101,000
Unemployment rate: 8.5%
Crime rate: 222
GreatSchools rating: 5





No. 3: Cumberland, Md.-W.Va.



Median income: $52,200
Median house price: $81,000
Unemployment rate: 8.9%
Crime rate: 480
GreatSchools rating: 6




No. 4: Kokomo, Ind.



Median income: $61,400
Median house price: $88,000
Unemployment rate: 9.6%
Crime rate: 300
GreatSchools rating: 4



No. 5: Bay City, Mich.


Median income: $56,200
Median house price: $73,000
Unemployment rate: 9.9%
Crime rate: 315
GreatSchools rating: 5





No. 6: Pocatello, Idaho


Median income: $55,600

Median house price: $108,000
Unemployment rate: 9%
Crime rate: 250
GreatSchools rating: 6






No. 7: Fairbanks, Alaska

Median income: $76,800
Median house price: $216,000
Unemployment rate: 7.1%
Crime rate: 752
GreatSchools rating: 7

Adapted from MSN