Runner-up: Youngstown, Ohio
This big (2,500-square-foot) house in nearby Boardman goes for just $164,900.
Median home price: $68,000
Median family income: $53,500
Affordability score: 93.2%
This small city located about midway between Pittsburgh and Cleveland was once one of the leading industrial cities, and factory-worker earnings were second to none. The demise of most of the steel mills in town ended the area's prosperity.
During the boom times, neighborhoods of well-kept homes spread. But the housing market has been contracting in many communities and the population has shrunk. Now large mansions can be purchased for less than $200,000.
Median income, at about $53,000, is not low, relative to home prices, so nearly every worker with a job can afford to buy some kind of home.
NEXT: Third place: Syracuse, N.Y.
Last updated February 23 2011: 3:17 PM ET
