“The Knoxville area provides a number of amenities, but No. 1 is a great low cost of living,” says Rhonda Rice, executive vice president of the Knoxville Chamber. “Tennessee has a very affordable tax structure. You combine that with the natural amenities—the mountains and the lakes—and those things make it a great place to live.”

With a median home sales price in the Knoxville metro area of $140,000 in the fourth quarter of 2013, about 77.4% of homes are affordable to families earning the local median income ($60,700), according to data from the National Association of Home Builders. Across the country in Los Angeles, the median family income is pretty similar–$61,900–but only 20.6% of the homes on the market are affordable to a family with that level of income.

Source: Forbes