Just stumbled on this research about the best place to live in the usa if you're looking for something that won't drain your wallet. Apparently there are legit 15 cities across the country where you can actually find both low crime AND affordable housing - which honestly feels like a unicorn combo these days.

What's wild is that Ohio dominates the list. Seven out of the top 15 are in Ohio. New Philadelphia tops it off with a total cost of living around $35.5k annually and a violent crime rate of just 0.69 per 1,000. Then you've got places like Parma Heights, Berea, Mount Vernon, Hamilton, Brunswick, and North Ridgeville all making the cut. If you're serious about finding the best place to live in the usa without spending crazy money, Ohio keeps popping up.

Beyond Ohio, there are some other gems worth considering. San Elizario, Texas has the lowest home values around $167k and insanely low violent crime at 0.10 per 1,000. New Ulm, Minnesota is another solid option with a livability score of 82 and very low violent crime. Even Columbus, Indiana and Edwardsville, Illinois made the list - Edwardsville actually has the highest livability score at 90.

The data they used came from FBI crime statistics, Census data, and housing market info from early 2025, so it's pretty comprehensive. If you're trying to figure out the best place to live in the usa based on actual safety metrics and affordability combined, these towns are worth looking into. Most have populations between 10k and 50k, so you're getting that smaller community feel without sacrificing access to basics. Pretty solid research if you ask me.