Cheapest Places To Live In Oklahoma For 2020

The 10 Cheapest Places To Live In Oklahoma For 2020

Kicking off our list of the most affordable cities in Oklahoma is Alva, a small city located in the northwestern part of the state. Alva doesn't have the cheapest home prices or lowest rent in the state, but thanks to a combination of good income and well below average housing costs, the city earns the #1 rank with ease.

On top of all that, Alva is home to Northwestern Oklahoma State University, where you can get your college degree for next to nothing. Alva's also one of the safest places in Oklahoma, so don't worry that you're trading affordability for security. The median home price in Alva is $93,300 and the median income is $50,349, making Alva one of the easiest places to pay off the mortgage in Oklahoma. Add to that super-affordable rent and you've got all the makings of the cheapest city in the state.

The median household income in Alva comes in at $50,349 and the median home value is $93,300 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 4.4%.

2. Holdenville

If you're looking for the cheapest homes in Oklahoma, look no further than Holdenville. Homes in Holdenville go for a median price of $55,000, and with residents earning a median income of $31,776, the city has the third best home price to income ratio in all of OK. Not to mention that the median rent in Holdenville, $524/month, is the lowest you're going to see on this list. If you stick to cheap activities like swimming and fishing at Holdenville City Lake, there'll be plenty of money left in your wallet at the end of every week.

Holdenville is located about 75 miles southeast of Oklahoma City.

The median household income in Holdenville comes in at $31,776 and the median home value is $55,000 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 9.6%.

3. Anadarko

Coming in as the third cheapest place in Oklahoma is Anadarko, a small city about 50 miles southwest of Oklahoma City

Native Americans make up a plurality and almost a majority in Anadarko, which has been aptly nicknamed the "Indian Capital of the Nation." So definitely make it a point to visit the free American Indian Hall of Fame while you're here. Unfortunately, unemployment is quite high in Anadarko, so you may want to have a job lined up before you can really take advantage of the city's affordability. The median income in Anadarko is $34,779 and the median home price is $63,700.

The median household income in Anadarko comes in at $34,779 and the median home value is $63,700 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 12.1%.

4. Blackwell

Located about an hour south of Wichita, Kansas, Blackwell ranks as the fourth least expensive city in Oklahoma. Blackwell's economy centers around agriculture and fossil fuels, so if you have the relevant experience, scoring a job here should be a piece of cake.

You'll have no trouble believing you're in one of the cheapest states in America when it comes time to start paying your mortgage in Blackwell. The city has the best home price to income ratio in Oklahoma by a wide margin, thanks to Blackwell residents earning a median income of $43,613 and paying a measly $58,500 (the second lowest in the state) for homes.

The median household income in Blackwell comes in at $43,613 and the median home value is $58,500 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 9.4%.

5. Seminole

Seminole clocks in as the fifth most affordable city in Oklahoma. Seminole earned this spot thanks to having the fifth cheapest homes in the state and paying residents well enough to afford them (and then some). Homes in Seminole go for about $63,900 and residents earn a median income of $37,828, meaning residents pay the second smallest proportion of their salary on homes statewide. And if you've got kids, or are a kid at heart, you'll love having the Jasmine Moran Children's Museum right in your backyard.

Seminole is about an hour east of Oklahoma City.

The median household income in Seminole comes in at $37,828 and the median home value is $63,900 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 9.9%.

Located about 85 miles south of Oklahoma City, Sulphur ranks as the sixth cheapest city in the state. Sulphur is an especially attractive place for renters, who pay the 11th smallest proportion of their income on rent in Oklahoma. The median rent in Sulphur is higher than some places on this list at $681/month, but it's still far lower than the the average rent in Oklahoma. As a bonus for outdoorsy people, Sulphur is home to the Chickasaw National Recreation Area, where you can see Little Niagara Falls.

The median household income in Sulphur comes in at $49,477 and the median home value is $106,700 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 4.2%.

7. Pauls Valley

Paul did a pretty good job making his Valley an affordable place to live with plenty of things to do. Pauls Valley has some of the cheapest homes on the market in Oklahoma, with a median price tag of $84,500. On an income of $39,861, paying off the mortgage before the new house smell fades is easy as pie in Pauls Valley. Especially if you've got experience in the agricultural or petroleum industries.

Pauls Valley is about an hour south of Oklahoma City.

The median household income in Pauls Valley comes in at $39,861 and the median home value is $84,500 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 4.3%.

Ponca City ranks as the eighth most inexpensive city in Oklahoma by virtue of being an equally affordable place for home-buyers and renters. Ponca City's economy is centered around the oil industry and operates a 200,000-barrel-per-day refinery for Phillips 66. And if you want a glimpse at how the oil magnates of the 1920's lived, definitely check out the Marland Mansion. The median home price in Ponca City is $93,700 and the median income is $43,291.

Ponca City is located about an hour and a half northwest of Tulsa.

The median household income in Ponca City comes in at $43,291 and the median home value is $93,700 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 7.0%.

9. Noble

Noble's population has been steadily growing in recent years, and it's not hard to see why. It's safe, has excellent schools, and a great job market. Oh, and it's the ninth most affordable city in Oklahoma of course! For all these top-notch amenities, Noble's housing is a bit pricier than elsewhere on this list.

On the flip side, Noble residents are also paid better, with a median income of $61,600, so paying $115,200 for a home is no biggie. In fact, it's one of the easiest places to pay off the mortgage statewide. And while a median rent of $926 may look intimidating compared to other places on this list, it's still firmly below the Oklahoma average (which, by the way, is one of the cheapest states to rent in America).

The median household income in Noble comes in at $61,600 and the median home value is $115,200 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 5.4%.

10. Cushing

Located between Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Cushing rounds out our list of cheapest places to live in Oklahoma. Cushing has the 11th cheapest homes and the tenth best home price to income ratio in the state. Homes go for $79,600 and the median income in Cushing is $40,087. Cushing is also known as the "Pipeline Crossroads of the World" due to its economy's strong reliance on the oil industry.

The median household income in Cushing comes in at $40,087 and the median home value is $79,600 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 6.5%.

How We Determined The Most Affordable Places To Live In The Sooner State For 2020

The two most important things to think about when it comes to being able to afford if you can live comes down to:

1. How much do money do I make?
2. How much do I have spend to live there?

You need to understand your costs in the context of how much money you make.

For example, if the median household earns $100,000 and spends $40,000 on housing it's actually cheaper to live there than a place with a median income of $50,000 and housing costs of $21,000. You might spend more on housing, but you have more money overall to play with.

With that example in mind, we derived several statistics from the latest Census American Community Survey 2014-2018 around incomes and costs. They are:

• Median Home Price / Median Income (lower is better)
• Median Income / Median Rent (Higher is better)
• Median Home Price

We added simply median home price because high home prices generally correlate with higher expenses for all costs related to homes (heating, electricity, etc).

You can then compare these metrics in each of the places in Oklahoma to figure out which is the least expensive.

What you are left with is a "Cost of Living Index" by taking the average rank of each of these metrics for each city.

So we used that cost of living index in order to rank all of the 74 places in Oklahoma that have more than 5,000 people.

The place with the lowest cost of living in Oklahoma according to the data is Alva. You can download the data here.