NC spot among the top safest + most affordable places to live in the US, report says
Of all the low-budget cities to settle down in the US, North Carolina is home to one of the safest and most affordable.
GOBankingRates, a personal finance site, released a list of the top 50 cities across the country with the lowest cost of living and crime rate averages. Cary took the second-place spot.
Elgin, Illinois came in as the top spot overall.
Cost of living and crime rates in Cary
Here’s what the report says:
Median household income: $125,317
Household average mortgage cost: $3,814
Total monthly cost of living: $5,863
Property crimes: 1,975
Violent crimes: 142
Located in the heart of the Triangle area outside of Raleigh, the town of Cary is home to about 187,000 people and continually ranks as one of the top safest cities nationally and regionally, according to the town website.
Of the top 25 cities in GOBankingRate’s report, 11 are in Texas. Cary was the only North Carolina city ranked among the top 50.
However, several other spots across the state ranked among the safest and most affordable places to live in the South in another report released by GOBankingRates earlier this year.
Safest and cheapest cities in the South
To compile the list of the safest and cheapest cities in the South, the personal finance site calculated living costs and safety scores based on crime rates among the 10 most populated cities in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.
Here’s which North Carolina cities ranked among the top 25 (from the February report):
No. 2: Cary
Average monthly expenditures: $2,049
Average rent: $1,732
Violent crime rate (per 1,000 residents): 0.8
Property crime rate (per 1,000 residents): 11.01
Livability score (out of 100): 90
No. 6: Concord
Average monthly expenditures: $2,021
Average rent: $1,790
Violent crime rate (per 1,000 residents): 1.06
Property crime rate (per 1,000 residents): 9.82
Livability score (out of 100): 80
No. 13: Raleigh
Average monthly expenditures: $2,041
Average rent: $1,664
Violent crime rate (per 1,000 residents): 4.98
Property crime rate (per 1,000 residents): 23.7
Livability score (out of 100): 84
You can find more information about both reports ranking the safest and most affordable cities in the U.S. and and in the South online at gobankingrates.com.
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