Housing affordability, or, rather, lack thereof, defines the country’s major markets right now. But there are still some affordable areas out there — especially here in Illinois. Two Illinois towns topped a recent ranking of the most desirable places for households with a yearly income of $75,000: the national median.

Those cities are Champaign and Peoria.

Insurify, an insurance comparison shopping website, looked at the mortgage, tax and average home insurance costs in cities nationwide to determine the 10 most affordable to homebuyers on a budget. Specifically, homebuyers with a household income of $75,000: the national average. The team then took home values, cost of living, crime rates and population growth into account to analyze which areas offer the biggest bang for your buck.

Champaign topped that list, directly followed by Peoria. According to Insurify, in Champaign, the homeowners pay a median of $1,422 per month for their mortgage (assuming a 20% down payment), home insurance and city taxes. Meanwhile, the median home is worth $196,732; Champaign home values increased 4% between 2022 and 2023.

Homeowners in Champaign also spend an average of $1,753 per year on home insurance, which reflects a 2% drop during that same year, bringing the figure below the national average of $1,770.
In Peoria, homeowners pay less per month, just a median of $1,090 for mortgage and equity payments, but the median home value is also lower: $141,649. Homeowners there also pay $1,753 per year for home insurance, on average.

Insurify’s full list of the best towns for shoppers with a household income of $75,000 includes:
1. Champaign
2. Peoria
3. Detroit
4. Mansfield, Ohio
5. El Paso, Texas
6. Duluth, Minn.
7. Bangor, Maine
8. Lansing, Mich.
9. Rochester, N.Y.
10. Syracuse, N.Y.