- [Briggs] Are you looking to retire
or just live a little bit cheaper,
maybe buy an affordable home?
Keep watching.
What is going on, everyone?
Welcome back to The World According to Briggs,
and a video about towns in the United States
where you can retire on less than $1,658 a month.
We did this video a few years back
and had the price set at $1,500
because that was the average
monthly social security payment,
and it was also about half what
the average military retirement is.
Things have changed:
Housing costs are up,
the cost living is up in general,
health insurance has gone up,
everything's up.
These videos are just telling you
what it takes to get by on the basics.
You aren't going hungry,
your rent or house payment is made,
and you don't have have to worry about getting
your utilities shut off every month.
But let's be honest,
if you are retiring on just social security,
you're probably gonna need a part-time job
for quite a few years
to help with things like healthcare and extras.
This is just very basic look
at the average person.
Everyone has a different financial situation.
Today, we're looking at the Southwest,
which includes Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, and New Mexico.
We did already do Arizona and New Mexico
in a previous video,
but they're also considered part of the Southwest
so we're adding them.
In no particular order, let's take a look.
Number 10, Live Oak, Texas.
Live Oak is a nice little town
in the San Antonio Metro area.
Basically, a suburb of San Antonio
and honestly, it's one of the nicer ones I saw.
They have a population of about 17,000 people
and they're enjoying the good life.
This is a good place to live
and it's relatively inexpensive.
Live Oak has one of the higher livability scores
I've seen in any video where I'm talking
about how things are inexpensive.
Normally, when things are inexpensive, they suck.
Live Oak does not fall into that category.
They have a livability score of 92.
Just to put that into reference,
if you're in the 50s,
59 on down,
you suck.
If you're in the 70s,
you're okay, 70s to 80s.
Once you get over 80, you're doing pretty good.
They're a fricking 92.
Their cost living is decent,
their crime isn't terrible.
Cost of living is 10% lower than the national average,
and the crime rate is 32% higher than the national average.
And as we've discussed in previous videos,
there are places in the United States
where the crime rate is like 400% above
the national average,
so this is nothing to get upset about.
They have good schools
and the median home price is $123,000.
And if you haven't watched these before,
that's kind of unrealistic.
That's just a number that real estate agents look at,
and I'm gonna give you what it's really like there.
Currently, there's one home here going
for $185,000.
That's odd because most of the decent ones start off
around 240,000 and go up.
There's some that are in the 600s,
but 240 to 320,000 is what you're looking for
to buy a decent home
that's been built in the last 30 years.
They got some nice parks
and they're kind of close to all the things you need to do.
You can go up to New Braunfels
and hit Schlitterbahn if you want,
that's right up the road.
Like I had said, the livability score here is 92,
and your total monthly expenditure is estimated
to be $1,641 a month.
Number nine, Alva, Oklahoma.
Alva, Oklahoma sits along
the Salt Fork Arkansas River,
up near the panhandle of Oklahoma.
Not in the panhandle, close to it.
I have to say that,
because someone will correct me
in the comment section.
It's close.
Up until the last as census,
this town has been losing population
since it peaked during the Carter Administration
with 7,000 residents.
But from 2010 to 2020, they gained four people.
Progress!
Get the feeling there in the middle of a boom.
Who knows?
Normally, when a place has been a population vortex
for any extended amount of time,
it could be traced back to one or two things:
crime and lack of jobs.
This place doesn't have any crime past, I don't know,
bike theft and bar fights.
It has no jobs.
And if you're retired, that's good news.
Places with no jobs are always cheap.
And if you're retired,
chances are you don't really need a job.
Now, I talked about earlier how
you might need a part-time job to get by,
you might not need one here.
It's that cheap.
The cost livings like 20% lower
than the national average
and crime is 55% lower.
The overall livability score in Alva, Oklahoma is 77,
which is outstanding for a place
in the Oklahoma Outback.
Your total monthly expenditure is $1,487,
that's the estimate.
Number eight Rio Rancho, New Mexico.
Rio Rancho is a suburb in the Albuquerque Metro area.
This community is growing,
which is normally a sign that it's going to be expensive,
really isn't though.
It is in New Mexico,
and overall, that's a very affordable state,
so that helps.
This city hasn't been around that long.
There was always people living here
but really it didn't blow up until the early 80s
when Intel built a plant
and brought a lot of good paying jobs to this town.
It is next to Albuquerque
and Albuquerque's got its problems,
just like other major city,
but this one seems to be doing pretty good.
Rio Rancho's cost of living is about seven percent lower
than the national average,
and their crime rate is 54% lower
than the national average,
which is outstanding 'cause you always hear
about the crime in Albuquerque.
It ain't bleed over into Rio Rancho.
Rio Rancho has a lot of older homes
that you can find for easily under 200,000.
I mean, 160, 170, on up to 210.
You'll get you an older house
that might need a little work,
but if you go all the way up to 250,
you got a move in-ready nice home.
They do have some that are over 300,
but there's a whole lot that are under the $220,000 area.
The livability score in Rio, Rancho is 78,
which is not bad,
and your estimated total monthly expenditure would be
about $1,595.
Number seven; Guymon, Oklahoma.
Guymon sounds like diamond but with a G.
And this is a great place to move to
if you wanna save some money,
get an affordable home,
live a nice quiet life.
If you're looking for a little excitement,
you probably don't wanna move to Guymon.
Guymon is in the panhandle of Oklahoma
and it is not too far away from no place.
This place is out in the middle of nowhere.
I mean, other than Hooker, Oklahoma,
that's not too far away.
And then there's Liberal, Kansas,
which, if you know anything about this part of the country,
I'm surprised they still call it Liberal, Kansas.
Guymon, as far as real estate goes,
they don't have a lot to offer
but when they do,
it's usually under 200,000.
They do have a really nice house there right now
with a pool and all this good stuff,
looks like the president might live there.
It's going for about 600,000.
But a majority of the places
you can buy here are vacant lots
or lots just outside of town,
build a home there.
The occasional home will pop up
that is always like under $250,000.
The median home listing price here is $110,000,
which is 40% lower than the national average.
They do have rentals here
and they usually go around $700,
which is 28% lower than the national average.
Now, if you need a job when you move to this place,
most of the people will work
at the Seaboard Foods Processing Plant,
that's like a hog processing place.
And that employs a lot of the residents here;
almost 12,000 people.
The cost living in Guymon is about 20% lower
than the national average,
and their crime is 33% lower, which is outstanding.
It's like another one of those places
where the only crime they really get are bar fights
and maybe someone broke into your car.
The livability score in Guymon is 77
and your estimated total monthly expenditures would be
about $1,403.
Not bad.
Number six, Burkburnett, Texas.
Burkburnett sounds like a name you come up with
when two people are arguing over
what to call something,
and seeing that it's on the Texas-Oklahoma border
right there on the Red River,
I imagine if they did have that argument,
it would involve gunplay.
Burkburnett is not a bad place to live.
Actually, it's kind of desirable.
It's got all the right stats in all the right places.
They're only knock is they don't get good grades
for their schools.
But if you're retired,
that's not something you're worried about,
unless you're like 90 years old
and wanna go back to high school to get
that diploma you never got
because of the Korean War or something.
Which, side note to that,
I am surprised at how many people don't realize
that we had the Korean War back in the 1950s.
Amazing to me.
Anyway, moving on.
Burkburnett's housing is extremely low.
It's actually, their median home value is 94,000.
That's 49% lower than the national average.
Their cost living is 17% lower than the national average,
and crime is 34% lower than the national average.
Like Guymon, Oklahoma, there's not a lot to do here
so if you want a nice quiet life,
this is a solid place to live.
I poked around Zillow to see what they have available,
around 200,000 will get you a nice home.
They have plenty of homes that will need
a little work that are older
that you can get for under 100,000.
I'm not even kidding.
They have a few of 'em.
Sure, just like any place,
they got some homes that are over 400,000,
but they do have some good affordable options here.
So you can move here and be one of the 11,000 people
that call Burkburnett home.
The livability score here is 79,
and your estimated total monthly expenditures would run
you about $1,578.
Number five, Perryton, Texas.
Perryton is near the border of the Oklahoma panhandle.
Not too far away from Hooker and Liberal, Kansas,
like I said before.
One other interesting place
they have here is Fort Supply, Oklahoma isn't too far away.
"Fort Supply," that's what they called it.
And as you can imagine,
this started off as a fort that would give supplies.
Yeah, talk about creative.
I wonder if this place sucks so bad,
when they tried to name it after some general,
he was like, "No, don't name it after me.
"This place sucks."
They were like, "Screw it, we'll stick with supply."
I watched a video where they asked a bunch of residents
where they got the name "Fort Supply" from
and this older gentleman's all,
"I don't know,
"I think it has something to do with supplies."
I'm like, "You think so, Jed?
"Really, supplies?"
This is another place that their only bad stat is schools.
It's out in the middle of nowhere,
it's a small town,
so schools are, I'm sure, very underfunded,
and that's unfortunate for the kids there.
But if you're retired, who cares?
Your kids are grown.
Their cost of living is extremely low.
It's actually 26% lower than the national average.
Their crime rate is outstanding,
it's almost 40% lower than the national average.
And their housing is 52% lower
than the national average.
This is a great place to settle down
if you don't have a bunch of cash.
Their median home value is estimated to be $88,000
and as we've learned,
that's not really accurate.
You can get decent older homes for under $80,000.
Not even kidding.
If you got $250,000,
you could live like a king here.
This one I'm really impressed with.
If you go to Zillow and look up Perryton, Texas,
look at the houses they have available
for under like a $100,000...
Let's say $150,000.
There are nice homes here.
And if you look at any of the information online
about Perryton,
and it seems like a very nice, tight-knit community
where just about anyone would like to live.
The liability score in Perryton is 76,
and your estimated total
monthly expenditure is $1,489 a month.
Number four, Snowflake, Arizona.
I like Snowflake just because of the name.
A lot of people that don't know much
about Arizona are all,
"Why would they name it Snowflake?
"The state never has snow."
Well actually they do have snow.
They do have some mountainous areas
that get snow on a regular basis,
and there's been more than a few times
where snow has actually fallen on the desert floor.
That's one thing I think is unfortunate about Arizona,
most people that don't know much about it
just think the Phoenix and Tucson area,
and think it's just desert;
parched land and tumble weeds.
It's not, there's so much more to this state
when it comes to landscape.
But Snowflake is not named because of snow.
It was actually founded in 1878
by Eustace Snow and William Jordan Flake.
They pushed their names together
and came up with "Snowflake."
Snowflake doesn't have a big population,
it's actually under 6,000.
Snowflake's another one of those places
where their biggest problem is employment numbers.
That's not the best,
but again, if you're retired,
chances are you might not need a job.
The housing here,
the estimated home value is 27% lower
than the national average,
which is about 135,000.
Their crime rate is 25% lower
than the national average,
and their cost living is about five percent lower
than the national average.
So overall, it's not that bad of a place to live.
They do have horse thieves.
Yeah, I was reading articles,
someone had their horse taken.
This was a couple years back,
but yeah, horse thievin' is
the biggest crime here, I'd imagine.
A couple of assaults too, but it's not terrible.
Snowflake, Arizona made it on this list
for people that wanna live in the desert
and want to be away from people
'cause it's sort out in the middle of nowhere.
It is right next to a little town called Taylor, Arizona,
which has an additional 3,000 people.
So these two communities together are really not that big.
The livability score in Snowflake, Arizona is 73 and
your estimated total monthly expenditure would be $1,522.
If you're looking for a home here,
that's another reason this is on the list.
This is the type of place
if you want to have some property too,
'cause you can get places for under 300,000
that come with like five or more acres.
Number three, Weatherford, Oklahoma.
Weatherford, Oklahoma is a little bit west
of Oklahoma City,
so you're close enough to a big city
in case you need something medical issues or whatever,
and they got pretty cheap land.
On top of that, everything else
but employment and school numbers,
they got good stats.
Crime is great, cost of living's phenomenal,
and their housing's pretty decent too.
Their cost of living's actually nine percent lower
than the national average,
and their crime's 12% lower than the national average.
Now, they say the median home value here is 153,000
but realistically, you could find things
that are cheaper than that.
They have plenty that are 500,000 or whatever,
but you can get an older home here for $79,000.
There's one right now for 79...
Actually, there's several for $79,000.
One, that's an older home, $69,000.
This is not a bad place to spend your golden years.
The livability score in Weatherford is 80,
and your estimated total monthly expenditure is $1,534.
Number two, Dalhart, Texas.
Dalhart, Texas out in the middle of nowhere.
It is not too far from Cactus, Texas,
and it's down the road a bit from Guymon, Oklahoma.
The nearest big city's gonna be Amarillo,
if you want to call Amarillo a big city.
This is a small, sleepy community
of a little over 8,000 residents.
It's one of those places that doesn't normally have
a lot of places for sale,
but when they do,
they're gonna be below 200,000 most of the time.
They do have some really nice bigger homes
that are older, but nice,
for over like $400,000.
But the ones they have for sale right now are
like 200, 199,000, and 185,000.
It's another place that has giant lots,
maybe not an acre in most cases
but they have good size lots.
This is a typical West Texas town
where you're gonna find two things:
a quiet life and good people.
The median home listing price and Dalhart is $96,000,
which is extremely low.
They just don't have a lot of homes popping up
for sale all the time,
so you gotta kinda look around
and you gotta kinda keep monitoring this place
if it's a place you're thinking about moving to.
You could find really low priced real estate here.
Their cost of living is 21% lower
than the national average,
and crime is 16% lower than the national average.
Again, the only thing really dragging them down is schools
and employment numbers.
Dalhart has a nice little lake outside of town
and it is surrounded by agriculture.
The livability score is 77
and your estimated total monthly expenditure,
$1,499.
All right, before we get to number one,
don't forget we have another channel called "On This Day."
There is a link down below.
Don't forget to hit that like button
and if you haven't subscribed, please do so,
to this channel and the other one.
Really helps us out.
All right, onto number one.
And number one, Eagle Pass, Texas.
Eagle Pass could almost get on a cool list
just 'cause of the name.
It sounds cool, "Eagle Pass."
Solid name for a town,
and they got solid numbers too.
Their median home value was $118,000,
which is 36% lower than the national average
and rent is, in most cases, under $600.
That's the estimate at least.
Sure you're gonna find for higher,
but that's their median.
The cost living here is 17% lower than the national average
and crime is 19% lower than the national average.
Eagle Pass is one of the bigger cities on this list.
They've got just about 30,000 residents.
They got a ton of homes for under $120,000.
But if you want something decent,
expect only have to pay around 200,000.
Anything below 200,000,
you probably have to do some work,
but you could find nice older homes here
for 200,000, 230,000.
They got really nice ones for like 500,000,
but 200,000 is a good price to be looking at.
Eagle Pass sits right on the Rio Grande,
right across from Mexico,
which is great if you need pharmaceuticals.
Not in the bad type pharmaceuticals,
not like street pharmaceuticals,
I'm talking like medication when you're an older person.
Always cheaper in Mexico.
And yes, I get this all the time
whenever I mention going to Mexico
for your prescriptions,
is some places are a little shady.
Here's my advice,
go to a legitimate place.
If you're walking down a back alley
and you find a pharmacy that's sign is written in Sharpie,
don't get your medication there.
The livability score in Eagle Pass is 81,
which is outstanding.
Your estimated total monthly expenditure is $1,608.
Not bad.
All right, that's today's video.
Hope you guys enjoyed it.
Hope you got some information out of it.
Now go out, have a productive day,
and be nice to each other.