Where homes are affordable

Residents who live in these 25 growing towns see their incomes go the furthest.

A distant suburb of Nashville, Murfreesboro is catching the overflow from that city's torrid growth, having more than doubled in population since 1990 to 101,000. The city claims it's because of great "quality of life." Also helping is the presence of Middle Tennessee State University, the system's largest with 23,000 students.

Murfreesboro's real estate values never bubbled. New construction offset any supply shortages, and development was facilitated by miles of open land, all of which kept prices in check. Nice starter homes of 1,500 square feet sell for less than $150,000.

See complete data and interactive map for Murfreesboro