Best Affordable Suburbs: South

Many Southern suburbs offer a rarely seen combination of strong job markets and low living costs. No wonder many are moving there

by Maya Roney

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Relocating to a Southern state won't make you a true Southerner—but between the job prospects, the warm weather, and the sweet real estate deals, it might just make you a much happier person.

Got Georgia on your mind? Or maybe Arkansas? You wouldn't be the first. Between 2000 and 2006, the South added 8.5 million residents, boosting its total population by 8.5%, compared with 2% population growth in the Northeast and 3% in the Midwest. New births and immigration account for some of the recent population boom, but many people have also made the move South for extra space, better weather, cheaper prices, and new jobs at Houston oil companies or Raleigh (N.C.)-area tech firms.

In the final part of our four-part series on America's Best Affordable Suburbs in the U.S. by region—the first installment was on suburbs in the Northeast, the second on suburbs in the West, and the third on suburbs in the Midwest—the places on our list of the Best Affordable Suburbs in the South, compiled with Portland, (Ore.)-based research group Sperling's Best Places, have the best combination of affordability and quality that we have seen in any U.S. region.

There and (Half) Back

The South is a vast and varied region, stretching from the oil reserves of Texas and Florida's resorts and beaches to the booming business centers of the Carolinas and Virginia. The region's housing markets differ, too. Parts of Florida are now struggling after years of unsustainable growth, though the state still has the third-largest market for luxury homes. New luxury markets are emerging in the Southeast states, while poverty remains widespread in other areas, such as Appalachia and the "Deep South" (see BusinessWeek.com, 4/2/07, "The New Geography of Luxury Real Estate").

One of the main reasons for this growth is that over the past two decades, the U.S.'s economic centers have shifted away from Midwestern cities like Detroit and Cleveland to southern cities such as Atlanta, Charlotte (N.C.), and Dallas. Banks, automobile plants, and research parks have sprung up here, and as companies relocate to the area, they bring along their young adult employees.

Florida was always a popular place to retire, and it still is. Now the Carolinas, with their milder climate and scenic mountains and beaches, have also become hot destinations for retirees. Locals call them "half-backers"—Northerners who move to Florida and half the way back again. Another draw for the over-50 crowd? Many of their adult children have already moved to the state for job reasons. "I talked to some folks today who are moving here because that's where the grandkids are," says Mike Jaquish, a Realtor with Keller Williams Realty in Cary, N.C. and a town resident.

And for the average American family? Southern states have more than a few affordable, safe neighborhoods near big cities with good schools and friendly neighbors. The Best Affordable Suburbs on our list have an average cost-of-living index of 97 (just below the national average of 100), and half of the suburbs have median home prices below $288,100. In all but two towns, school test scores are above the state averages, and the average violent crime index is just 58 (vs. the U.S. average of 100).

Suburb in Bloom

In the South's largest metropolitan area, in the second-biggest state in the U.S., about a 15-minute drive from the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, lies the small city of Flower Mound, Tex., named for a large, wild flower-covered mound in the south of town.

Flower Mound shares a zip code with the nearby city of Lewisville, but the former is the more desirable area to live, according to Dottie Curry, a Realtor with Re/Max in the area.