TOP FIVE AFFORDABLE AMERICAN CITIES

Are you looking for your first home or perhaps somewhere nice to retire? These top 5 cities may be your perfect destination! They offer affordable living, great schools and safe neighborhoods! Get the list here!

MSN Money suggests…

These locations boast some of the lowest living costs in the nation. They also have highly rated schools and low unemployment and crime rates.

No. 1: Sandusky, Ohio

Sandusky, Ohio, is a city with million-dollar water views and a whole lot of $100,000 houses. With a median family income of $64,000 and median home-selling price of $76,000, this city on Lake Erie, midway between Cleveland and Toledo, could be the most affordable housing market in the country.

Throw in highly rated schools and a low crime rate, and Sandusky tops the 2011 Forbes list of America’s best cheap cities.

To produce the list, we started with the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Affordability Index, where Sandusky ranked sixth behind such cities as Kokomo, Ind., Elkhart, Ind., and Springfield, Ohio. Then we screened for the things homebuyers want to go along with a cheap house: low cost of living, from Moody’s Economy.com; low violent crime rate, from the FBI; low unemployment rate, from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics; and school quality, from GreatSchools.

Sandusky, Ohio:

• Median income: $64,000
• Median house price: $76,000
• Unemployment rate: 7.7%
• Crime rate: 247 (per 100,000 residents)
• GreatSchools rating: 7 (out of 10)

No. 2: Monroe, Mich.

• Median income: $69,000
• Median house price: $101,000
• Unemployment rate: 8.5%
• Crime rate: 222
• GreatSchools rating: 5

No. 3: Cumberland, Md.-W.Va.

• Median income: $52,200
• Median house price: $81,000
• Unemployment rate: 8.9%
• Crime rate: 480
• GreatSchools rating: 6

No. 4: Kokomo, Ind.

• Median income: $61,400
• Median house price: $88,000
• Unemployment rate: 9.6%
• Crime rate: 300
• GreatSchools rating: 4

No. 5: Bay City, Mich.

• Median income: $56,200
• Median house price: $73,000
• Unemployment rate: 9.9%
• Crime rate: 315
• GreatSchools rating: 5

Get the entire list at MSN Money!