10 Cheapest Cities in the Country

The city also boasts the nation's 13th-best health care prices (13.2% below average) and 14th-best utility charges (19% better than average). Transportation also runs 10% below average, while groceries cost 5.8% less than average.

But the biggest savings come in housing, where prices run 21.9% below the national average.

Those interested in moving there with find some 200 Ardmore listings on Realtor.com. Prices start at $15,000 for a one-bedroom home and run to $1.2 million for a 34-acre spread.

No. 4 cheapest city: Fayetteville, Ark.
Cost of living index: 84.6

It's not surprising a city just 30 miles south of Wal-Mart's(WMT) hometown of Bentonville has one of the nation's lowest cost-of-living rankings.

Fayetteville offers the 9th-lowest prices on miscellaneous items (11.1% below average), the 12th-best deals on transportation (13.6% cheaper than average) and the 17th-lowest prices on groceries (11.9% less than average).

But that all pales in comparison with how much you'll save on shelter in Fayetteville, best known as the University of Arkansas' home.

The city offers America' 31st-lowest housing costs, with prices running 23.8% below U.S. average.

Realtor.com lists about 750 Fayetteville properties for sale, priced from $30,000 for a three-bedroom home to $4.8 million for a 320-acre estate.

No. 3 cheapest city: McAllen, Texas
Cost of living index: 83.8

McAllen boasts the absolute lowest housing costs of any city surveyed, with prices running 33.2% below the U.S. average.

In south Texas just five miles north of Mexico, the 130,000-population city also has low retail prices, thanks to more than 40 local shopping malls. The so-called "City of Palms" has positioned itself as a shopping mecca for U.S. and Mexican citizens, so McAllen has the nation's sixth-lowest grocery costs (16.4% below average).