County rankings · computed from the data, updated daily
The cheapest counties in America to buy a home (with at least 50,000 people)
Jefferson County, Arkansas has the lowest median home value of the 986 US counties with 50,000 or more people: $89K (Zillow ZHVI 2024).
A cheap house in a county of 800 people is a different purchase from a cheap house somewhere with a hospital, a grocery store and a job market. This list keeps the floor at 50,000 residents so every county on it is a place you could actually move to.
Median home value is Zillow's home value index for 2024. Property tax is the county's effective rate from Tax Foundation, so you can see what the cheap house costs to hold. Open the map to move the handles yourself.
25 of 986 qualifying counties shown. Click a county for its page.
| # | County | Median home | Property tax | Median income | Violent crime /1K | People |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jefferson, AR | $89K | 0.63% | $47K | 4.6 | 67K |
| 2 | Vermilion, IL | $99K | 1.83% | $53K | 4.0 | 74K |
| 3 | Pike, KY | $101K | 0.78% | $41K | 5.5 | 58K |
| 4 | Cambria, PA | $107K | 1.32% | $54K | 3.9 | 133K |
| 5 | Dougherty, GA | $127K | 1.44% | $46K | 4.5 | 85K |
| 6 | Macon, IL | $127K | 2.10% | $60K | 3.8 | 104K |
| 7 | Walker, AL | $130K | 0.27% | $53K | 4.5 | 65K |
| 8 | Lauderdale, MS | $131K | 0.91% | $46K | 3.9 | 73K |
| 9 | Jefferson, OH | $131K | 1.04% | $53K | 4.1 | 65K |
| 10 | Venango, PA | $132K | 1.37% | $59K | 3.8 | 50K |
| 11 | Jackson, IL | $133K | 1.94% | $45K | 3.9 | 53K |
| 12 | St. Landry Parish, LA | $134K | 0.30% | $44K | 4.8 | 83K |
| 13 | Hinds, MS | $135K | 0.95% | $49K | 3.8 | 227K |
| 14 | Belmont, OH | $136K | 1.05% | $57K | 3.9 | 67K |
| 15 | Robeson, NC | $138K | 0.93% | $39K | 4.8 | 118K |
| 16 | Clearfield, PA | $141K | 1.23% | $57K | 3.9 | 80K |
| 17 | Henry, VA | $141K | 0.52% | $44K | 4.5 | 51K |
| 18 | Garfield, OK | $144K | 0.85% | $64K | 3.9 | 62K |
| 19 | Iberia Parish, LA | $144K | 0.35% | $55K | 4.4 | 70K |
| 20 | Scioto, OH | $145K | 1.11% | $46K | 4.8 | 74K |
| 21 | St. Lawrence, NY | $145K | 2.31% | $58K | 3.7 | 109K |
| 22 | Starr, TX | $146K | 1.17% | $36K | 5.2 | 66K |
| 23 | Whiteside, IL | $147K | 2.14% | $63K | 3.7 | 56K |
| 24 | Fayette, PA | $148K | 1.22% | $56K | 4.3 | 128K |
| 25 | Lawrence, OH | $148K | 0.89% | $52K | 4.7 | 58K |
Sources: Zillow ZHVI 2024 · Tax Foundation 2023 · Census ACS 2022 · County Health Rankings 2024. Population: Census 2023 estimates. Recomputed from the county database every day.
What the list shows
The 25 counties come from 14 states. Illinois appears most often, with 4 of the 25. Jefferson, AR leads at $89K; number 25, Lawrence, OH, sits at $148K, a gap of $59K from top to bottom of the table.
Across all 986 counties over the 50,000-person floor, the median value of the ranking column (Median Home Value) is $317K. Every county on this list is below that middle.
On housing, of the 25 with a Zillow figure, 25 have a median home under $200K and 0 are at $500K or more. The cheapest is Jefferson, AR at $89K; the most expensive is Lawrence, OH at $148K.
How we rank
Every county with 50,000 or more residents in the Census 2023 estimate is eligible. Counties are ranked by Median Home Value, lowest first, from Zillow ZHVI 2024. A county missing any figure in the table is left out rather than scored as zero, which is why 986 of the 3,222 places in the county database qualify. Connecticut’s planning regions are excluded because they are not counties. The table is recomputed from the database every day, so figures here can move as sources update.
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