Median annual income: $41,047 Monthly mortgage payment: $1,304 Median home price: $217,921 State average home price: $805,913.17 Difference between typical home price and state home price: $587,992.34
John Csiszar and Daria Uhlig contributed reporting to this article.
Methodology: In this study, GOBankingRates analyzed coastal cities across the United States to find the absolute steals on the waterfront. The first GOBankingRates are USAtoday's Most Affordable Waterfront Cities, WSAZ's 100 Best Beach Towns, TravelandLeisure's Best Beach Towns and Best Secluded Beaches, USNewsandWorldReport's Best Places to Live Near the Beach, LoveExploring's Destinations, TripSavvy's Best Beach Towns in the U.S., and the Most Affordable Beach Towns for Home Buyers by Real Estate Agents. We found a number of factors for each city, including: Total population, total number of households, and median household income all from the U.S. Census American Community Survey, cost of living index from Sperlings BestPlaces, April 2024 median single-family home price from Zillow Home Value Index, and AreaVibes. The livability index and the average price of a single-family home by state from the Zillow Home Value Index. For each home price, we calculated the average mortgage cost by assuming a 10% down payment and using the national average 30-year fixed mortgage rate. Average spending costs are calculated using the cost of living index and the national average spending costs for all residents from the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2022 Consumer Expenditure Survey. You can use average expense costs and mortgage costs to find the total monthly cost of living in each city. You can calculate the difference between home values and the statewide average to find waterfront cities that are undervalued and considered bargains. Cities were categorized to show where waterfront locations have the most undervalued housing. All data was collected on June 10, 2024 and is current.
