City Hall Downtown Buffalo, New York. The best and most affordable suburb in New York is Lockport, located in the Buffalo metro area.
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Suburbs in America really got their start with the introduction of the streetcar in the late 19th century, which spawned “streetcar suburbs” in many of the nation’s major cities. Then, the 1950s came along and, fueled by increasing car ownership and generous mortgage terms thanks to the G.I. Bill, American suburbs exploded, developing into suburbs as we know them today.
Living and raising a family in the suburbs has been closely related to the American Dream as realized by the middle class. Low crime, good schools and affordability are all key features Americans look for in a place they want to settle, and it’s especially so with suburbs.
Recently, the personal finance site GOBankingRates conducted a study that analyzed the cost of living, quality of schools and safety in suburban towns within the largest metro areas of all 50 U.S. states. Based on home prices and rents from Zillow, itemized non-housing costs of living from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, school district grades from Niche.com and crime rates from Neighborhood Scout, the study identified 85 suburbs as the best across the country.
Find out where the best and cheapest suburbs are in the U.S.
Best and Most Affordable Suburbs
There were 49 suburbs whose median home price was cheaper than the U.S. median, which was $292,000 at the time the study was conducted in May 2019. Out of those, there were 17 that had median listing prices below $200,000. These suburbs were located in states of the South, Midwest and Northeast.
Here are the 17 best suburbs with median home prices less than $200,000:
1. Lockport, New York
Located in: Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls metro area
Median home listing price: $117,000
2. Elsmere, Delaware
Located in: Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area
Median home listing price: $129,900
3. El Reno, Oklahoma
Located in: Oklahoma City metro area
Median home listing price: $139,380
4. Socorro, Texas
Located in: El Paso metro area
Median home listing price: $140,950
5. New Haven, Indiana
Located in: Fort Wayne metro area
Median home listing price: $148,900
6. Baker, Louisiana
Located in: Baton Rouge metro area
Median home listing price: $149,750
7. Mayfield Heights, Ohio
Located in: Cleveland-Elyria metro area
Median home listing price: $149,900
8. Pearl, Mississippi
Located in: Jackson metro area
Median home listing price: $155,450
9. Millbrook, Alabama
Located in: Montgomery metro area
Median home listing price: $159,500
10. Lebanon, Indiana
Located in: Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson metro area
Median home listing price: $159,950
11. Maryland Heights, Missouri
Located in: St. Louis metro area
Median home listing price: $169,000
12. Plum, Pennsylvania
Located in: Pittsburgh metro area
Median home listing price: $169,000
13. Fairfield, Ohio
Located in: Cincinnati metro area
Median home listing price: $169,950
14. Claremore, Oklahoma
Located in: Tulsa metro area
Median home listing price: $176,645
15. Cabot, Arkansas
Located in: Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway metro area
Median home listing price: $179,900
16. Altamonte Springs, Florida
Located in: Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford metro area
Median home listing price: $188,950
17. Bowling Green, Ohio
Located in: Toledo metro area
Median home listing price: $189,900
Looking at these suburbs in terms of school district quality, Maryland Heights stands out. According to Niche.com, it’s covered mainly by two school districts — Parkway C-II School District and Pattonville R-III School District — which both have A+ school district grades. Other suburbs with A+ school district ratings were Mayfield Heights, covered by the Mayfield City School District; and Fairfield, covered by the Fairfield School District.
Mayfield Heights has another superb score: It’s violent crime rate, which is remarkably low at just 0.70 violent crimes per 1,000 residents. Pearl, the best suburb in Mississippi, also boasts very low violent crime, with only 0.75 incidents per 1,000 people. When it comes to property crime, the best suburb in the Pittsburgh area, Plum, sports the lowest rate: 4.55 property crimes per 1,000 residents. The 10th most affordable, best suburb, Indianopolis’ Lebanon, has the second lowest rate, with 6.58 crimes per 1,000 people.
Keep in mind: These are only just the 17 most affordable places among the full list of 85 best suburbs.
Check out the full list of the best suburbs in every U.S. state