What are the top 7 most affordable LGBTQ-friendly cities in the Sun Belt

What are the top 7 most affordable LGBTQ-friendly cities in the Sun Belt? Find out here on this episode. Then download your FREE Queer Money Kickstarter, a 9-step Guide to Kickstart Your Journey to Financial Independence.

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What are the top 7 most affordable LGBTQ-friendly cities in the Sun Belt?

On this Queer Money®, we’re sharing the top 7 most affordable LGBTQ-friendly cities in the Sun Belt on our affordable, LGBTQ+-friendly city series. 

Albuquerque, New Mexico, comes in at #7.  Albuquerque rents are the highest on the list at $1,496 a month for a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment. This is $400 cheaper than the national average. It has the highest home prices at $308,000, which is $150,000 cheaper than the national average. The cost of living is 97.9% of the national average, which is the highest on our list. For more info on all things gay about Albuquerque, listen to or watch Queer Money® episode #421.

 Birmingham, Alabama, comes in at #6.  Birmingham has the lowest rents at $1,244 a month for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment. It has the lowest home value at $105,000 for a typical home sold. It has the lowest cost of living at 87%. Birmingham also has the lowest median and average incomes at $40,000 and $51,000, respectively. Birmingham may be another option for geoarbitrage, especially if you are looking for a warmer climate. According to what Peace Love & Understanding on YouTube said from the “small cities” episode #509 it gets a perfect 100 on HRC’s MEI, is very affordable, and has no snow. Yes, it’s in Alabama, which pretty much sucks, but as long as you don’t venture too far outside the city limits, you might be very surprised. For more info on all things gay about Birmingham, listen to or watch Queer Money® episode #483.

Coming in at #5 is Norman, Oklahoma. Norman is a suburb of Oklahoma City and the home of the University of Oklahoma. It has the second-lowest rent at $1,333 a month for a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment. 

Coming in at #4 is San Antonio, Texas.  It is a middle-of-the-road city with below-average rent, home values, and cost of living.

Lexington, Kentucky, comes in at #3. Lexington has below-average rents, home values, and cost of living. And it also has the second-highest median and average incomes on this list at $51,000 and $69,000, respectively.

It is worth noting that for all of the 173 cities looked at,  15 of them were Sun Belt states with cities that we could analyze. There is a total of 18 Sun Belt states, per Clarion Partners, but we didn’t include Colorado, Kansas, and Utah.  No cities south enough garnered HRC rating. Typically, blue states are more expensive than red states. The only blue states are California and New Mexico. The highest-ranking city in California on our list was Palm Springs at #23. For the whole list, grab the growing spreadsheets at queermoneypodcast.com/cities

We have 3 honorable mentions. Dallas came in at #8.  Atlanta came in at #10, and Las Vegas came in at #16.

Louisville, Kentucky, came in at #2. Louisville is slightly lower than average rents, home values, and cost of living.

Covington, Kentucky, came in at #1. A suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio, Covington has the second-lowest home value at $186,000. It has the second lowest cost of living at 89.3%. It has the highest median and avgerage incomes at $57,000 and $75,000, respectively, of this top 7 list. For more info on all things gay about Convington, listen to or watch Queer Money® episode #451.

If you’d like to see the data for this growing series, get the dynamic list of Affordable LGBTQ+ Friendly Cities in the U.S. here or click the link in your podcast player for a growing analysis.

For the resources and to connect with our guests, get the show notes at: https://queermoneypodcast.com/subscribe. 

 

 

Previous Bonus Podcast Episodes

• 7 Reasons Why LGBTQ Folks Move to Red States
• 7 Most Affordable and Friendly Cities for LGBTQ Families
• Top 5 Most Affordable LGBTQ+ Friendly Cities for Outdoor Activities

 

Click below to listen to this bonus episode.