According to Kiplinger Magazine

10 Cheapest U.S. Cities to Live In

When it comes to cheap living, don’t mess with Texas. Three of the ten cheapest cities in the U.S. can be found in the Lone Star State. Several Texas cities, including San Marcos, McAllen and San Antonio, didn't crack the top ten but ranked very highly for affordability nonetheless. The other seven cities on our 2014 list are scattered across the nation, from as far west as Idaho to as far east as Georgia. Some might come as a surprise.

We compiled our rankings based on the Council for Community and Economic Research’s calculations of living expenses in 308 urban areas. Its Cost of Living Index measures prices for housing, groceries, utilities, transportation, health care, and miscellaneous goods and services. We screened out cities with populations below 50,000. All ten finalists, while different in many ways, share one overarching similarity: super-affordable housing options for renters and homeowners alike.

NUMBER ONE: HARLINGEN TEXAS

Cost of Living: 18.4% below U.S. average

City Population: 65,679

Median Household Income:$34,096

Median Home Value: $77,700

South Texas is home to the cheapest place to live in the U.S. Head inland from the beaches of South Padre Island and you’ll soon run into Harlingen. Cheap housing is a big factor in Harlingen’s affordability, but so is cheap food. Of the 308 urban areas examined by the Cost of Living Index, just three have cheaper groceries than Harlingen. But affordability doesn't necessarily equate to prosperity. One in three Harlingen residents live below the poverty line, nearly double the poverty rate for Texas and more than double the U.S. rate.

2013 Cheapest Cities Rankings

1. Harlingen, Texas
2. McAllen, Texas
3. Norman, Okla.
4. Memphis, Tenn.
5. Fayetteville, Ark.
6. Wichita Falls, Texas
7. Pueblo, Colo.
8. Springfield, Ill.
9. Conway, Ark.
10. Idaho Falls, Idaho

Kiplinger Magazine updates many of its "best places" rankings annually. Above is last year's list of the cheapest cities in the U.S. Keep in mind that ranking methodologies can change from year to year based on what data was available at the time of publishing, changes to how the data was gathered, switches to new data providers and tweaks to the formulas used to narrow the pool of candidates.