2. Temple, Texas
Temple is a small city that is simply packed with fun activities and interesting places to visit, no matter whether you’re a tourist who is just visiting or somebody who plans to move and stay there for good. With a city population of about 70,000 people, it’s definitely a good choice if you prefer smaller environments over densely populated concrete jungles. And if you’re looking for a place where you won’t spend all your money in a matter of days, Temple’s a pretty darn good option.
Even though it’s just an hour of driving north of Austin, this central Texas city is literally a galaxy away from the capital when we’re speaking about the costs of living there. The overall affordability is rather high, with the average cost of living dropping almost 13% below the usual (Austin has about 6.8% below average). Your typical cul de sac house costs around $100,000 less than in Austin. What’s interesting is that even though the cost of living is cheap, it doesn’t mean that Temple is economically weak – a typical family earns about as much as they would in Austin, and the unemployment rate is well below the national jobless rate.
