Reposted from The Independent Tribune
By Chris Miller
Concord is not only one of the fastest growing cities, with its population having exploded from roughly 80,000 in 2010 to around 111,000 last year, it is also one of the cheapest and safest cities in the South, according to a new report.
GOBankingRates, a personal finance website, released a list of the 25 safest and cheapest cities to live in the South last week based on costs of living and the rates of property crime and violent crime.
Concord was ranked No. 8. Below are the statistics the report had about the city:
Average monthly expenditures: $2,021
Average rent: $1,790
Violent crime rate (per 1,000 residents): 1.06
Property crime rate (per 1,000 residents): 9.82
Livability score (out of 100): 80
“Our officers do a great job building relationships with the community and providing excellent service,” said Concord Police Chief Jimmy Hughes. “Receiving national recognition as one of the safest cities is a testament to their hard work and the strong partnerships with our fellow public safety organizations and city departments. It takes all of us working together to create the quality of place that people not only want to visit but also make their home.”
“Concord continues to be recognized as one of the best places to live, work, and play,” said Concord Mayor Bill Dusch. “Safety and affordability are certainly top factors families and businesses consider when choosing where to lay down roots. It’s an honor to be recognized and receive confirmation that our intentional efforts and the hard work of our public safety professionals is having an impact.”
For each city included in the list, GOBankingRates “calculated the total living costs, including groceries, health care, utilities, transportation and rent. Safety scores were based on the rates of property crime and violent crime per 1,000 residents. To qualify for the ranking, cities also needed to have a livability score of 75 out of 100 or higher.”
Two other North Carolina cities were also featured in the rankings: Cary, a suburb of Raleigh with a population of around 187,000 people, was No. 2, with a livability score of 90 and Raleigh, with a population of around 477,000 people, was No. 13, with a livability score of 84.
The top 10 safest and cheapest cities in the South, according to GOBankingRates are:
Rogers, Arkansas
Cary, North Carolina
Covington, Kentucky
Bentonville, Arkansas
Georgetown, Kentucky
Huntsville, Alabama
Hoover, Alabama
Concord, North Carolina
Plano, Texas
Edmond, Oklahoma
To find the safest and cheapest cities to live in the South, GOBankingRates analyzed cities within the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia, along with the District of Columbia.
The top 10 most populated cities within each state were analyzed for a variety of factors, according to GOBankingRates, including grocery cost of living index, health care cost of living index, utilities cost of living index, transportation cost of living index, December 2023 average rent cost (per Zillow Observed Rental Index), and property crime rate and violent crime rate per 1,000 residents.