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This North Carolina city was just named the most beautiful and affordable in America

From big cities to small towns, a local city was named as the most beautiful and affordable place to live in the country — Hickory.

Travel + Leisure magazine released a study of the top ten cities using data from U.S. News & World Report’s latest rankings based on cost of living, median home prices and quality of life.

According to the magazine, the median price for homes in Hickory is $161,000, making it the most affordable place to live in the U.S.

But aside from being the cheapest, Hickory also topped the list for its variety of hiking trails and Southern charm.

Hickory is about one hour’s drive from Charlotte, accessed by Interstate 85 south and N.C. Hwy. 321, heading north from Gastonia.

Hickory, NC was named the most beautiful and affordable place to live in the U.S. in a new study.
Hickory, NC was named the most beautiful and affordable place to live in the U.S. in a new study.

“This affordable neighbor to the east of Asheville and north of Charlotte is popular with retirees, but it’s also becoming more attractive to young families; a steady stream of residents has been flocking here for its newfound fame as a technological hub for Google and Apple,” Travel + Leisure wrote.

Nestled in the middle of the two tech giants’ buildings, Hickory is about 17 miles away from Google’s data center in Lenoir and 13 miles away from Apple’s data center is Maiden.

Here’s a full list of the cities named the most beautiful and affordable:

  1. Hickory, North Carolina

  2. Grand Rapids, Michigan

  3. Greenville, South Carolina

  4. Louisville, Kentucky

  5. Knoxville, Tennessee

  6. St. Louis, Missouri

  7. Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas

  8. Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina

  9. South Bend, Indiana

  10. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania