Anonymous
Post 02/15/2026 10:20     Subject: Where to live in America or the world that's cheap with excellent schools?
Anonymous wrote:Northern Virginia the east coast silicon valley


So cheap!
Anonymous
Post 02/15/2026 09:59     Subject: Re:Where to live in America or the world that's cheap with excellent schools?
Raleigh, NC. Good schools and lots of highly educated people. NC has a low state tax rate of 4.25 %and set to lower to 2.49% by 2031.

They are attracting Virginians in light of a lot of new and higher taxes in Virginia.
Anonymous
Post 02/15/2026 09:00     Subject: Where to live in America or the world that's cheap with excellent schools?
West Hartford and Main Line are roughly equidistant from NYC. Philly has Acela service, too. West Hartford is definitely cheaper and agreed that CT has a lot in its favor as a state. But the NYC access from West Hartford is a weird point to argue!
Anonymous
Post 02/15/2026 08:19     Subject: Where to live in America or the world that's cheap with excellent schools?
Anonymous wrote:West Hartford


The first response to this thread is the best one most likely.

Op, you don’t want to give up access to the ny metro area.

Ct outside of Fairfield county has probably the best blend of education quality, major job market access, and cost of Living

Pa/main line is more expensive with more coarse people and not as close to nyc.

West Hartford gives you nyc metro and boston metro access
Anonymous
Post 02/15/2026 07:22     Subject: Where to live in America or the world that's cheap with excellent schools?
Suburban Chicago or Minneapolis. Des Moines also a consideration, but in a red state that might turn blue.
Anonymous
Post 02/15/2026 07:15     Subject: Where to live in America or the world that's cheap with excellent schools?
Anonymous wrote:To have good public schools you have to have high taxes and an educated population. Those places are attractive to those that want that and are not cheap by definition.


This. Also, now that people can work remotely, many big earners moved their children to the best public schools around the country. I live in a smaller city and all of the new people on our street moved from big places like DC or NYC. Locals can’t compete with the big salaries, so they’re not in the best neighborhoods unless they bought before Covid
Anonymous
Post 02/15/2026 07:12     Subject: Where to live in America or the world that's cheap with excellent schools?
You can’t have both

Even in “cheap” places, you will either be paying a boatload in taxes or property costs for access to good schools.

The way education is funded in this country is extremely problematic, but we already knew that.
Anonymous
Post 02/15/2026 06:19     Subject: Where to live in America or the world that's cheap with excellent schools?
OP should define what a good school is. Many school districts look good but it’s heavy on ed tech and numbers are high mainly because of heavy parent involvement. High taxes but do have good programs. That’s my school district—my child is fluent in a world language because of a good program but it’s also taken a lot more work than I wanted.
Anonymous
Post 02/15/2026 03:50     Subject: Where to live in America or the world that's cheap with excellent schools?
Anonymous wrote:Chagrin Falls, OH


If it was good enough for Ensign Charles Parker…
Anonymous
Post 02/14/2026 22:20     Subject: Where to live in America or the world that's cheap with excellent schools?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Probably not as cheap as you’re looking for, but I’ve always felt the Philadelphia suburbs offer good value for the quality of public schools.


Property taxes can be quite high in these places (that's how they pay for the excellent schools) but if you are used to NYC housing costs it might not feel that bad. My PA family complain all the time that it's not worth it to live in the burbs with really great schools because taxes are so high, but they also think buying a home for less than like 600k is insane whereas if you live in NYC that's likely going to sound like a huge bargain. So it's all relative.

One thing I like about Philly suburbs is that you can live on one of the close in, Main Line suburbs and be able to live a relatively walkable lifestyle (walk to train and take that into Philly, get by with just one car for family, most of these suburbs have little downtowns reasonably walkable from most houses, good density) while also getting good schools and affordability (again, relative to NYC, not relative to like Columbus, Ohio).

We have been looking at that area recently. We currently live in DC and are frustrated with the rat race culture here and getting frustrated by the mix of ever increasing housing costs while public schools are mediocre to bad, and seem to be getting worse. But we don't want to give up walkability and an urban lifestyle. It's hare to find that balance.


California does NOT have excellent schools


Their schools overall are terrible
Anonymous
Post 02/14/2026 22:19     Subject: Where to live in America or the world that's cheap with excellent schools?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We live in NYC, I work in big tech, kids in private, feel like I'm going to burst into flames.

Looking to relocate, price WAY down, save hard. Possibly keep job, possibly get new remote job.

Would love to live somewhere somewhat pretty, and only other thing that really matters to me is really really good (like A rated) public or very inexpensive private schools.

Any tips? Do you love where you live or have lived that is like this? My proliferating gray hairs and wrinkles and stress related health issues thank you.


I think your best bets would be California, New Jersey, Connecticut, or Massachusetts.


California schools are terrible, some of the worst in the country.

Plus, California is over taxed, has horrible crime, and the highest cost of living in the country.

But if OP likes policies that create those things, by all means, head west.
Anonymous
Post 02/14/2026 22:18     Subject: Where to live in America or the world that's cheap with excellent schools?
Anonymous wrote:Northern Virginia the east coast silicon valley


Northern Virginia is gerting set to tax residents more than California.
Anonymous
Post 02/14/2026 21:55     Subject: Where to live in America or the world that's cheap with excellent schools?
Columbus, Ohio suburbs. Nice suburbs with people working at the university and companies in Columbus. Dublin is one such suburb, Dublin Jerome High is 10/10 on Great Schools. Dublin Coffman High is also good.
Anonymous
Post 02/14/2026 21:52     Subject: Where to live in America or the world that's cheap with excellent schools?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:op - would like to hear more about northern va and philly burbs. where there has really good schools? am not super familiar with the areas.

NoVa is a rat race. I wouldn't go there if you are looking to get out of that wheel.


Yeah NOVA is like this if you live in the close-in suburbs (Arlington, McLean, Great Falls, Vienna). But go just a bit further from DC (I’m thinking South Riding) and you’ll still have good schools with less stress. Look just outside the Beltway.


Left South Riding because the schools changed so much in the last few years and the area is not aging gracefully. It’s all data centers, traffic and eveyone feels stressed. Not to mention the airplane noise from Dulles was unbearable. I had a beautiful house on the golf course so if anyone should have felt peaceful there it was me. It was bittersweet to leave but not sure this is a good fit for someone leaving the city.
Anonymous
Post 02/14/2026 21:47     Subject: Where to live in America or the world that's cheap with excellent schools?
Ann Arbor, MI or some of the Detroit suburbs (Troy, Farmington Hills, etc.)
Cleveland Heights, OH
Wilmette, IL
Howard County, MD
Manlius, NY (near Syracuse)