ST. LOUIS – A new real estate analysis names St. Louis among the Top 25 “cheapest places to live” in the United States. Accounting for the bi-state region, St. Louis was the most-populated metro area to crack the list.

Kiplinger, a personal finance magazine, recently published a report called “The 25 Cheapest Places to Live: U.S. Cities Edition.”

In making the report, a research team collected U.S. Census and Bureau of Labor data on living expenses from 265 urban cities with at least 50,000 people in its metropolitan area. From there, Kiplinger used a cost-of-living index that accounts for prices like housing, groceries, utilities, transportation, healthcare and other services.

St. Louis just made the list for the Top 25 places, ranked 23rd in the report. Kiplinger found that the St. Louis metro’s cost of living is 13.7% below the national average, with a median household income and median home value being $70,189 and $215,700, respectively.

“The St. Louis metro area, which spills over into neighboring Illinois, boasts big-city amenities at bargain prices,” said Kipliner. “Major league sports certainly help put the city on the national radar, but three national research universities, an extensive roster of major corporate headquarters, and an internationally known symphony orchestra place St. Louis in rare company when it comes to what residents receive in terms of forgiving costs of living.”

Kiplinger adds that the City of St. Louis’ economic conditions differ from those of the whole metropolitan area, stating the median household income is nearly two-thirds that of the metro area and the poverty rate is nearly double of the St. Louis region.

In Missouri and Illinois, Joplin and Decatur, both several hours away from St. Louis, were ranked fifth and fourth best on the list respectively. Harlingen, Texas was deemed the cheapest place to live in the US with a cost of living index nearly 23% below US average.