This Alabama city is one of the 20 most affordable in the U.S.

This Alabama city is one of the 20 most affordable in the U.S.

Financial services company Empower has named Huntsville the 20th most affordable city in the United States.

That’s following an analysis of 113 U.S. cities, as well as a survey of 1,000 Americans about where they want to live and what criteria they look for when deciding where to call home.

To rank the cities, the analysts used data on home affordability (based on median home prices from Realtor.com and median rent prices from Zumper), cost of living (from AdvisorSmith), tax friendliness (from SmartAsset), percentage of days per year with sunshine (from CurrentResults) and other factors. Then using statistics, the cities were ranked most to least affordable.

Surveying working adults, cost of living was a top priority for more than half of those questioned, with 30% looking at proximity to family, and 28% with an eye on crime. Employment opportunities came in at 27%.

Denver was the most desired place to live, with 17% preferring the Mile High City, followed by San Diego and New York City.

As for the most affordable cities, Sioux Falls, S.D. was the top ranked city, followed by Springfield, Ill. and Wichita, Kan.

Other cities include:

  • Virginia Beach, Va.
  • Des Moines, Iowa
  • Oklahoma City, Okla.
  • Lincoln, Neb.
  • Anchorage, Alaska
  • Omaha, Neb.
  • McAllen, Texas
  • Indianapolis, Ind.
  • Lexington, Ky.
  • Lubbock, Texas
  • Columbia, Mo.
  • Clarksville, Tenn.
  • Peoria, Ill.
  • Charlotte, N.C.
  • Kansas City, Mo.
  • Fayetteville, Ark.
  • Huntsville