Just looked into where you can actually find affordable and safe places to live in the US without breaking the bank, and honestly some of the findings are pretty interesting. Turns out Ohio is absolutely dominating this category right now with 7 cities making the top 15 cheapest and safest locations to settle in. That's wild considering how spread out the rest of the list is across the country.

So if you're looking for the best combination of low crime and reasonable cost of living, New Philadelphia, Ohio is sitting at the top with an annual cost of living around $35,549 and a violent crime rate of just 0.69 per 1,000 people. Monthly mortgage payments are hovering around $1,101 which is pretty solid. New Ulm, Minnesota came in second with even lower violent crime at 0.29 per 1,000, though the annual living costs bump up to about $36,361.

What's cool is that you've got options across different regions. San Elizario, Texas offers the lowest home values at around $167,333 with incredibly low violent crime at 0.10 per 1,000. Then there are places like Edwardsville, Illinois and Trenton, Michigan that rank higher on the list with strong livability scores of 90 and 86 respectively, showing you don't always have to choose between safe and affordable.

The research pulled data from FBI crime statistics, census data, and housing indices as of early 2025, so it's pretty recent. If you're seriously considering a move to find that sweet spot between safety and affordability, looks like you've got some solid options scattered across the country, with Ohio being the clear winner for concentration of these kinds of places.