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Most and Least Affordable Cities in the USA

by Jordan Yerman | February 21, 2009 at 09:22 am

1588 views | 9 Recommendations | 7 comments

The Housing Opportunity Index, published by the National Association of Home Builders, lists the most- and least-affordable cities, broken down by the size of the urban area.

Surprise, surprise: New York CIty is the least-affordable, followed by San Francisco. The most affordable large city is Indianapolis, followed by Warren, Michigan.

Speaking from experience, NYC definitely earns the title. San Francisco boasts cheaper beer than NYC, but has ridiculously-expensive rent, and higher gas prices than anywhere else in the USA.

Ten Least Affordable Cities

1. New York-White Plains-Wayne, NY-NJ
2. San Francisco-San mateo-Redwood City, CA
3. Nassau-Suffolk, NY
4. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA
5. Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL
6. Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA
7. El Paso, TX
8. Newark-Union, NJ-PA
9. Honolulu, HI
10. Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA

Ten Most Affordable Cities

1. Indianapolis-Carmel, IN
2. Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI
3. Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA
4. Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, MI
5. Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI
6. Syracuse, NY
7. Dayton, OH
8. Akron, OH
9. Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH
10. Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, PA

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Barry ORegan

at 09:44 on February 21st, 2009

Thats why I live in my car, down by the lake!

Free Of The Demon

at 13:21 on February 21st, 2009

This shot was taken from Liberty Island overlooking Jersey City N.J. and New York City N.Y. Jersey City is in a urban renewal development period and has affordable housing.

Free Of The Demon has contributed a photo to this story.

Amy Judd

at 15:19 on February 21st, 2009

I'm surprised Seattle is so expensive - I had no idea!

johnbrady161

at 15:25 on February 21st, 2009

We visited New York City, and Times Square, during the summer of 2008.

johnbrady161 has contributed a photo to this story.

macdavid

at 15:39 on February 21st, 2009

This is a photo that I took while passing through NYC on tour with the Florida's Singing Sons Boychoir in the summer of 2007.

macdavid has contributed a photo to this story.

Mrzwiggy (not verified)

at 16:48 on February 21st, 2009

These 3 photos were taken in February of 2009 in Rockefeller Center and the Upper West Side.

A. Tran

at 18:35 on February 22nd, 2009

I thought San Francisco is more expensive than Manhattan, even though I'm not surprised by the report's result. NYC has the highest tax that supports the rest of the state...