10 Cheapest Places to Live on the East Coast
If you’re planning to move east, it’s likely you’ve heard stories about the high cost of living on the East Coast. This tag with a capital E for “expensive” has become somewhat of a scarlet letter, labeling an entire region. You may find yourself asking, “What are the cheapest places to live on the East Coast?”
In this post, we’ll provide a list of the most affordable East Coast communities. We’ll also explain what factors impact your cost of living, and share a handy set of tools to help you calculate living expenses as you plan your next move.
What impacts cost of living on the East Coast?
If you’re planning to relocate to an East Coast city, the big question will be, “Can I afford to live there?” You’ll need to assess the cost of living, or what the market data experts at Statista describe as “the monetary cost of goods and services necessary to maintaining a certain standard of living.”
The cost to live somewhere typically includes the expenses you incur for:
Housing (rent/mortgage)
Energy (utilities)
Food (groceries)
Transportation (vehicles or transit systems)
Healthcare (doctors, hospitals, etc.)
However, it extends beyond these basics to cover other aspects, such as:
Clothing
Education
Childcare
Entertainment
Lifestyle choices
Ultimately, your standard of living in any East Coast city will largely be influenced by your salary (or income), and your debts. If you’re balancing on a financial tightrope but want to live on the East Coast, let’s take a look at some communities where you might find pockets of affordability.
10 of the cheapest places to live on the East Coast
Our list of the 10 most affordable places to live on the East Coast was derived from a report by GOBankingRates. Their research experts identified these locations by combining data from the following sources:
U.S. News & World Report’s Best Places to Live in the US in 2024-25
Zillow average home values
U.S. Census Bureau
Sperling’s BestPlaces
Because HomeLight is a real estate solutions company, we’ve ranked each of these cities based on average home values, from lowest to highest. We’ve also included a Sperling’s BestPlaces Cost of Living score for each city.
