15 Affordable Cities With Large Populations of Young People

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group of young adults
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Editor's Note: This story originally appeared on HireAHelper.

When deciding where to live, one important factor other than affordability is being around other similarly aged people who can help share housing costs.

However, the young-adult demographic can greatly vary by location. In general, states with lower a cost of living tend to have larger populations of young people.

To determine the affordable locations with the largest populations of young people, researchers at HireAHelper analyzed the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The researchers ranked metros according to the percentage of the population ages 18 to 24. Researchers also calculated the total number of people ages 18 to 24, the relative cost of living, and the median monthly rent cost.

Only affordable locations with below-average living costs were included in the analysis.

Here are the affordable U.S. metropolitan areas with the largest populations of young people.

15. Memphis, TN-MS-AR

Memphis, Tennessee
Sean Pavone / Shutterstock.com
  • Percentage of the population ages 18 to 24: 8.9%
  • Total population 18 to 24: 118,625
  • Cost of living (compared to average): -9.4%
  • Median monthly rent cost: $1,077

14. Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN

Nashville Tennessee traffic
Michael Gordon / Shutterstock.com
  • Percentage of the population ages 18 to 24: 8.9%
  • Total population 18 to 24: 179,923
  • Cost of living (compared to average): -4.5%
  • Median monthly rent cost: $1,422

13. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX

Houston, Texas
Nate Hovee / Shutterstock.com
  • Percentage of the population ages 18 to 24: 8.9%
  • Total population 18 to 24: 644,707
  • Cost of living (compared to average): -0.3%
  • Median monthly rent cost: $1,410

12. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL

Orlando, Florida
songquan-deng / Shutterstock.com
  • Percentage of the population ages 18 to 24: 9.0%
  • Total population 18 to 24: 241,148
  • Cost of living (compared to average): -0.2%
  • Median monthly rent cost: $1,678

11. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA

The Little Five Points district in Atlanta, Georgia
ESB Professional / Shutterstock.com
  • Percentage of the population ages 18 to 24: 9.0%
  • Total population 18 to 24: 552,560
  • Cost of living (compared to average): -0.9%
  • Median monthly rent cost: $1,506

10. Columbus, OH

Columbus, Ohio
Randall Vermillion / Shutterstock.com
  • Percentage of the population ages 18 to 24: 9.1%
  • Total population 18 to 24: 194,707
  • Cost of living (compared to average): -5.0%
  • Median monthly rent cost: $1,114

9. Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ

Phoenix, Arizona
Anton Foltin / Shutterstock.com
  • Percentage of the population ages 18 to 24: 9.1%
  • Total population 18 to 24: 449,098
  • Cost of living (compared to average): -0.8%
  • Median monthly rent cost: $1,572

8. Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN

Cincinnati
Anne Kitzman / Shutterstock.com
  • Percentage of the population ages 18 to 24: 9.2%
  • Total population 18 to 24: 208,296
  • Cost of living (compared to average): -5.7%
  • Median monthly rent cost: $1,058

7. Rochester, NY

Rochester, New York
Sirichai netthong / Shutterstock.com
  • Percentage of the population ages 18 to 24: 9.5%
  • Total population 18 to 24: 103,384
  • Cost of living (compared to average): -2.3%
  • Median monthly rent cost: $1,085

6. San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX

San Antonio at night.
f11 photo / Shutterstock.com
  • Percentage of the population ages 18 to 24: 9.6%
  • Total population 18 to 24: 250,925
  • Cost of living (compared to average): -3.6%
  • Median monthly rent cost: $1,308

5. Salt Lake City, UT

Salt Lake City, Utah
Joe Guetzloff / Shutterstock.com
  • Percentage of the population ages 18 to 24: 9.7%
  • Total population 18 to 24: 122,194
  • Cost of living (compared to average): -3.8%
  • Median monthly rent cost: $1,490

4. Grand Rapids-Kentwood, MI

Grand Rapids, Michigan
Suzanne Tucker / Shutterstock.com
  • Percentage of the population ages 18 to 24: 10.1%
  • Total population 18 to 24: 110,771
  • Cost of living (compared to average): -3.3%
  • Median monthly rent cost: $1,104

3. Oklahoma City, OK

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Austin Urton / Shutterstock.com
  • Percentage of the population ages 18 to 24: 10.1%
  • Total population 18 to 24: 145,319
  • Cost of living (compared to average): -7.2%
  • Median monthly rent cost: $1,056

2. Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC

Virginia Beach, Virginia
Ritu Manoj Jethani / Shutterstock.com
  • Percentage of the population ages 18 to 24: 10.5%
  • Total population 18 to 24: 189,171
  • Cost of living (compared to average): -2.2%
  • Median monthly rent cost: $1,454

1. Tucson, AZ

Tucson
Chris Rubino / Shutterstock.com
  • Percentage of the population ages 18 to 24: 11.4%
  • Total population 18 to 24: 120,434
  • Cost of living (compared to average): -7.1%
  • Median monthly rent cost: $1,140

Methodology

Investing
crazystocker / Shutterstock.com

To determine the affordable locations with the largest populations of young people, researchers at HireAHelper analyzed the latest data from the Census Bureau’s 2021 American Community Survey, the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) 2022 50th Percentile Rent Estimates, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s 2021 Regional Price Parities (RPP).

The researchers ranked metros according to the percentage of the population ages 18 to 24.

In the event of a tie, the metro with the largest total number of people ages 18 to 24 was ranked higher. Researchers also calculated the relative cost of living from the RPP data and the median monthly rent cost from the HUD data.

Only affordable locations with below-average living costs were included in the rankings. To improve relevance, only metropolitan areas with at least 100,000 people were included in the analysis.

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