Beachy Keen: the Most Affordable Beach Towns in 2018

For the third year in a row, Gulfport, Mississippi was named the most affordable beach town in the U.S., with a median home value of $116,200, and in a state ranked as one of the best for early retirement.

SmartAsset's ranking of 221 cities compared median home value, median housing cost, median number of rooms per house, and median property taxes paid. Mississippi and Florida had four cities each on the list, while Texas had the remaining two. Pensacola, Florida ranked behind Gulfport at number two for the third year in a row, however, Pensacola outranks Gulfport in home size. Pensacola homes have an average of 6.4 rooms per home, slightly more than Gulfport homes’ 6.1 rooms.

What was affordable last year remains affordable this year, for the most part. Only one city, Freeport, lost its place in our top 10, dropping to 17th. There is also only one newcomer to the top 10. Melbourne, which was 11th last year, took 10th this year and Fort Walton Beach, which was seventh last year, dropped to 11th this year. A few cities in our top 10 are more affordable this year than they were last year. Gulfport, Mississippi; Port Arthur, Texas and Ocean Springs, Mississippi all have lower median home values than last year.

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