Cheapest Places To Live In Pennsylvania For 2020

The 10 Cheapest Places To Live In Pennsylvania For 2020

1. Greenville

Is it really super crazy green in Greenville? We're not 100 percent sure, but one thing we're sure about is that Greenville is our most affordable city in Pennsylvania for 2020.

This little Hershey Kiss is 11th when it comes to home price to income ratio. We're not surprised it's so affordable. And we definitely think it's because they have such a strong economy as a result of step ladders. Yes, step ladders. Greenville is home to the largest manufacturers of step ladders. Now if step ladder manufacturing isn't your shtick, but living in the oh so affordable Greenville is, we heard "'The Jewel of the Shenango River" is alway looking for river guides.

The median household income in Greenville comes in at $44,438 and the median home value is $76,300 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 3.9%.

You don't have to live on ramen noodles and cereal to live in our second most affordable city in Pennsylvania for 2020: Oil City. Yes, Oil City's name says it all. Known for the start of the petroleum boom, this city is our second most affordable city in terms of home price to income ratio.

This city in Venango County, on the Ohio/Pennsylvania border, also scored an 8/10 for safety and an 8/10 for education. So if you are looking for an affordable Pennsylvania city with safe, small town charm and smart people, hurry on over to Oil City.

The median household income in Oil City comes in at $37,543 and the median home value is $49,100 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 9.0%.

3. West Mifflin

With the economy doing so well, people are moving now more than ever. Might we suggest Pennsylvania's third most affordable city for 2020: West Mifflin?

This city in Allegheny County, scored an eight on our snackability scale: one of the highest for any city in the top ten. According to our data, they should be Pennsylvania's poster city for affordability, housing, and safety.

This Pitttsburgh-burb also made our best cities to retire in Pennsylvania for 2020. West Mifflin's residents 'got it goin' on'. And you know what else West Mifflin's residents know? Apparently a good deal when they see it, because they are the 22nd most affordable city for home price to income ratio.

The median household income in West Mifflin comes in at $53,056 and the median home value is $98,800 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 7.8%.

The median household income in Sugarcreek comes in at $41,658 and the median home value is $77,600 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 8.8%.

5. Pottsville

Pottsville isn't going to 'pot,' it's actually quite nice and quite affordable. More importantly, it's our fifth most affordable city in the The Keystone State for 2020. This city in Schuylkill County is the tenth most affordable city in terms of home to income ratio and 64th cheapest for rent to income ratio. Up seven spots from last year, we're pretty sure the residents in Pottsville know a good deal. And we think those numbers scream buy, don't rent.

But who wouldn't want to buy a home where coal, logistics, and Yuengling, are keeping the median income around $40,645? Just think of all the beer you can buy with that cheddar!

The median household income in Pottsville comes in at $40,645 and the median home value is $68,100 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 6.6%.

6. New Brighton

The median household income in New Brighton comes in at $38,329 and the median home value is $71,000 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 7.7%.

7. Clearfield

Clearfield is a borough and second most populous community in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, United States, behind DuBois. Clearfield is also the county seat of Clearfield County. As of the 2010 census the population was 6,215 people. The borough is part of the DuBois, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area, as well as the larger State College-DuBois, PA Combined Statistical Area. The settled area surrounding the borough consists of the nearby census-designated places of Hyde and Plymptonville, which combined with Clearfield have a population of approximately 8,595 people.

The median household income in Clearfield comes in at $45,594 and the median home value is $86,100 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 7.1%.

8. Dubois

DuBois DOO-boys is a city in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, United States, 100 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. The population was 7,794 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city in the DuBois, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area. DuBois is also one of two principal cities, the other being State College, that make up the larger State College-DuBois, PA Combined Statistical Area.

The median household income in Dubois comes in at $48,193 and the median home value is $90,500 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 4.8%.

9. Warren

Warren is a city in Warren County, Pennsylvania, United States, located along the Allegheny River. The population was 9,710 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Warren County. It is home to the headquarters of the Allegheny National Forest and the Cornplanter State Forest. It is also the headquarters for the Chief Cornplanter Council, the oldest continuously chartered Boy Scouts of America Council, and the catalog company Blair. Warren is the principal city of the Warren, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area.

The median household income in Warren comes in at $41,816 and the median home value is $80,800 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 6.2%.

10. Brentwood

Just southeast of Pittsburgh, is our tenth most affordable Pennsylvania city for 2020: Brentwood. Brentwood, PA is nothing like Brentwood, CA. Brentwood, PA has great affordable neighborhoods, nice people, and it's safe.

This hub of Eastern PA is home to the greatest percentage of young folks (25 to 44) concentrated into one city on our list. And if we've learned anything about Millenials, they know a good deal. Brentwood has a lot of great amenities like the Brentwood Arboretum, the Brentwood Park, and lots of great biking trails. Brentwood is a staycation waiting to happen.

The median household income in Brentwood comes in at $55,809 and the median home value is $98,800 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 3.6%.

How We Determined The Most Affordable Places To Live In The Keystone 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 Pennsylvania 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 186 places in Pennsylvania that have more than 5,000 people.

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