When browsing through financial independence and digital nomad online communities, you often find articles like this touting SE Asia or Latin America as a great place to retire early or live off blogging income.

But what if I told you that you can live in USA for cost almost as low as SE Asia or Latin America? There will be no need to learn a new language or miss out on great American amenities like Whole Foods or Taco Bell at 2AM!

Detroit Rock City!

Due to decades of economic depression and bad management by the local government, Detroit real estate prices have plummeted and unemployment level have skyrocketed... Income level is also very low (median of $26,095USD in 2016) so the cost of living is low compared to other US cities. How low is the cost of living in Detroit? Lets take a look.

Housing

Why rent when you can own? Houses are cheap in Detroit. You can buy a nice brick single family home like this for few thousand dollars. If you mortgage this home for 30 years, your mortgage payment, home insurance, and property tax comes out to about $112/month. Of course homes like this is probably going to have problems so, let's put aside $50/month for repairs and say that the housing costs are $162/month.

Groceries

Groceries are incredibly cheap in the US compared to other developed countries. Carton of eggs are about $1-$1.99. A loaf of bread is about $1. A pack of ramen noodles last time I checked were $0.23. Also, sales tax does not apply to groceries in the state of Michigan. I can feed myself healthy meals 3 times a day for about $150/month.

Utilities and other Bills

When I lived by myself, I paid about $35/month for electric. Gas bill can get expensive in the winter due to very cold weather but since you only need to heat your home about half of the year, it averages out to about $50/month. Detroit waterbills are expensive compared to the surrounding areas at $75/month average(source). Home internet is expensive in the US due to few or no competition but the trick I learned is that you can get an unlimited data plan on your cell phone and just tether that to your computer for internet. My unlimited data T-mobile cell phone plan costs $30/month. Total for this category: $190/month

Transportation

Car insurance in Detroit is ridiculously expensive due to a state law that requires every car owners to have unlimited medical coverage insurance and people driving around without insurance anyways, ignoring that state law. So, I personally think that it's not worth having a car in Detroit. There are many bike lanes being installed in Detroit right now so it's becoming a very bike friendly city. So, just bike everywhere and Uber on days when the weather is crappy. Uber budget: $100/month

Entertainment

Entertainment is cheap in Detroit. There are many free or close to free events where you can BYOB(Bring Your Own Booze) going on all the time. You can get a 30 case of beer for $16 or so and cheapest fifth of liquor is like $7. Lets give a generous $100/month for this category though for all the booze you will be drinking during the cold months.

Medical

Healthcare is prohibitively expensive in the US and this will apply for Detroit as well. After 2019, the individual mandate to have health insurance goes away and will likely cause health insurance premium to skyrocket. So it's really hard to predict but if you are someone who are living off their investment or measly blog income, you should qualify for subsidy on ACA(Affordable care act) marketplace. Let's say it will be $200/month to be safe.

Lets add it all up!

Housing: $162/month
Groceries: $150/month
Utilities and Other Bills: $190/month
Transportation: $100/month
Entertainment: $100/month
Medical: $200/month

Total: $902/month

Would you move to Detroit?