Where is the absolute cheapest place to live in America that's still livable? By that I mean no junkies and some available job/social opportunities. I have an online job and I want to save a large amount of money over the course of a year. I'm not gonna live out of my car and I'm not gonna live out of a tent. Somewhere with my own stove, shower, and bathroom would be ideal.
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the cost of rent in America is entirely dependent on what your landlord feels like charging you
your job is to find a landlord who feels like you are worth a good deal
You want me to charm some landlord I don't know into giving me cheaper rent?
It's a fact of life
When you try to rent below market value, the quality of the rental declines far more steeply than the rent payment does. Primarily because cheap tenants in America are some of the worst human scum around.
What you need to do is score a property that is worth quite a bit more than what you are paying for it.
I've only rented one apartment in my entire life. I paid far below market value for it, because I was renting from my boss and he really needed my help. He didn't want to see me sleeping in my van. I left the apartment better furnished than when I arrived. The second year I rented, I didn't have to leave a deposit, because I was a trusted tenant.
Renting a place is 100% business, and business is all about two parties benefiting each other. I've always had great luck when my housing was connected with my job. Hell, if you plan to fly out after you quit working, I don't see any downside.
>The second year I rented, I didn't have to leave a deposit, because I was a trusted tenant.
Why would you have to leave a second deposit in addition to the deposit you already paid upon move-in?
>do what I did and get lucky
A boomer in the making
I had a landlord who loved me and never raised my rent in 5 years because I was quiet, respectful, and would bullshit with him about baseball, his grandkids, and how awful democrats are
Fricking moron. America is the only country in the world where 99% of landlords are in the business of owning real estate to squeeze you to death and make money. The chances they’ll charge significantly below market rate is virtually zero.
wow amazing advice Black person i didnt realize average rents didnt actually matter and you can just get the same level of housing anywhere for the same price with enough moxie
> no junkies
Nowhere. It’s literally not an option. If it’s cheap, there are junkies there. Period. Full stop. No exceptions. 20 years ago, there were places like that but not anymore.
Why would you care about job opportunities in the local market if you're working remotely?
To answer your original question, you're not going to find anywhere in the US that is dirt-cheap and also has no junkies. The low cost of living is why junkies live there. If you want cheap + dense enough to have a social scene, look at the tourist towns of the deep South along the Gulf Coast. There are lots of places in the $500-$600/month range for rent.
More like junkies living there is why it’s not cheap. The only cheap places in America are places with no economy. If the place has a vital and growing economy, people move there en masse, and everything gets more expensive as landlord leaches speculate on rent prices. If it’s not, it stays cheap but the locals turn to drink and drugs, or maybe the blacks and Dominicans move in to take advantage of the highway system and traffick drugs like in depressed New Jersey and Pennsylvania towns.
Just move to a town in Idaho or something. There's lots of really nice places to live in the US that are relatively cheap and aren't filled with junkies, the only problem is getting a job in the local area, which filters most people out. But you work from home, so that's not a issue.
Idaho stopped being cheap years ago. Meets most of his other criteria though.
Unfortunately in the US you can choose only two of: cheap, no crime/Black folk, decent jobs/social scene
If Idaho isn't cheap, then where exactly is cheap?
Toledo
Toledogay here. It's cheap alright. Stay on the west side and it's perfectly fine. Boring as all frick though. Don't drink the tap water.
Ottawa hills and Sylvania are good my dad grew up in Birmingham it was poor then and even worse now
West Virginia. Oklahoma. That’s it.
Arkansas is also reasonable, but yeah tbh WV but not the part near Maryland is probably the cheapest place in the US.
Iowa
occasional junky but they are good people. in Charleston WV. live like a king for like 800 a month.
Well you didn't outlay what your definition of cheap is. For all I know you're a CaliBlack person who thinks $1700 would be cheap. Sioux Falls, SD is what I would go with if I had a remote job and needed a cheap place to bag cash. South Dakota had no income tax and very low taxes overall. You can still find 1 bedroom apts in Sioux Falls for under $700 without even trying.
SF is the largest city in the state whatever the state has it'll be there.
I like warmer climates. Any really cheap options somewhere warmer?
No
Lincoln/Omaha is like 5 degrees warmer.
Ohio or Indiana. I'm from Ashtabula which isn't super full of junkies but YMMV
the rental market is permanently broken nationwide. what few places are "affordable" have been overrun with lowlifes, junkies, etc.
almost every slightly discerned landlord that had cheap rentals has moved to airbnb. it cratered the rental market.
BUT there are some housing markets which feature a perhaps unassuming and some would say dull lifestyle, but remain stable, safe, well looked after and affordable for a household with two middle income earners. WI, MI, MN, IA, IL, IN, upstate NY...not totally free of lowlifes but doing about as well as anywhere at keeping them out this side of martha's vineyard or montauk.
I live in Cheyenne but I'm moving to bigger cities soon. Wind, snow, cold, and "bad" weather are great filters that keep The Elements out of here. I'm guessing state income tax is fixed to your employer so that won't matter here. This town is also a capital but not really a city (64k), and is 10 mi from the CO border and 100 mi from Denver international. I think this would be a great FI/RE and semi retirement place to live in, but it's not for me who never scored a telework opportunity at all, and has to PCS for better grades.
I just got back from Boulder last night and I was definitely given the strange eye by more than 2 people there, despite being clean shaven, simply dressed, and white. Some of the mountain resort, expensive towns are unfriendly but have more going on for their jail bait kids.
Tl;dr cold weather, border cities, on the redder State side
> on the Redder state side
Wyoming is as red as it gets lol
There are nationwide real estate price maps online. All you have to do is overlay that with your taxes.
Trailer park in Fl is pretty cheap and safe