Been looking into where people are actually moving on the East Coast lately, and there's some interesting stuff in the data. Turns out Pennsylvania and Georgia are dominating when it comes to affordable cities to live in right now. Like, Pennsylvania has the two cheapest options overall, and both states tie for the most spots in the top 50. That's pretty wild.

I was scrolling through the numbers and noticed Sharon, Pennsylvania is sitting at just under 26k annually for cost of living. Johnstown's around 29.5k. These affordable cities have median household incomes in the 30-50k range with monthly mortgages under 800 bucks in most cases. The livability scores are actually decent too, not just cheap for cheap's sake.

What caught my attention is places like Meadville and Erie in Pennsylvania, plus Huntington in West Virginia are scoring highest on livability while staying super affordable. Erie's got over 94k people so it's not some tiny ghost town either. Columbus, Georgia is the biggest on the list with 200k+ residents. That's the kind of sweet spot people seem to be hunting for now.

The further down the list you go, you're looking at 32-34k annually, still way below what you'd pay in the coastal metros. Tons of affordable cities clustered in North Carolina, Georgia, and the smaller New York towns too. Makes sense why people are seriously considering East Coast relocations instead of fighting over housing in the usual expensive spots.