Top 100 Affordable U.S. Cities With Top Schools - 2023

As the country is adjusting to a “new normal” after pandemic shut-downs and restrictions, people are continuing to migrate from large cities to areas with a lower cost of living. Recent reports have revealed that between 6.9% and 11.5% of U.S. households intend to move in the near term, partly as a result of growing acceptance of remote work. Unsurprising, many of these households are families with children.

The thought of relocating to a new part of the country and starting over can be exciting and intimidating all at the same time, especially if you’re moving your entire family. If your goal is to find a city with top-notch education for your children and an affordable cost of living, this list of the Top 100 Most Affordable U.S. Cities with Outstanding Education may help you discover where you want to move to.

When determining the most affordable U.S. cities with the best schools, Dwellics analyzed more than 60,000 U.S. cities to compile a list of the Top 100 Most Affordable U.S. Cities with Outstanding Education. Among the ranking factors include taxes, child-care cost, property prices, approximate rental or mortgage costs, and the cost-of-living index. For education, the ranking factors for cities included the average teacher salary, teacher-to-student ratio, math proficiency, reading and language-arts proficiency, and the number of top-ranked “blue ribbon” schools.

For even more detailed analysis, use our School Calculator to directly compare two schools side by side.

Other factors included in each city’s listing are average rent and mortgage prices; taxes; median income; weather and air quality; public safety (propensity for natural disasters); infrastructure (public transportation, traffic, and internet speeds); community demographics like population size, age, racial and religious diversity, political affiliation, and industry and employment data that indicates the types of jobs available in each individual city. Dwellics also posts reviews of each city submitted by users who provide pros and cons of living in each place in their own words.