Forbes announced last week that Manchester was ranked #1 in their magazine’s “America’s 100 Cheapest Places to Live” list. When broken down by regions, Manchester still held the #1 ranking in the New England region. The magazine was impressed with the affordable real estate, safety, lowest cost of living and quality of life.

The article went on to say that the Queen City has “reinvented itself as a haven for those repelled by the high price of living and doing business in other New England states.”

In deciding on the top cities, Forbes used geographic entities data obtained from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. Of the 380 metro statistical areas and metro divisions, the 100 cheapest were selected. Initially, they ranked all cities on the following:

• Cost of living data from Moodys economy.com

• Home affordability statistics from Wells Fargo and The National Association of Home Builders

Forbes, then, rated the cities based on four quality of life factors:

• Violent crime statistics from the FBI

• Unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics

• Average salary for college graduates from Payscale.com

• Cultural opportunity based on Sterling’s Best Places leisure index

In those different categories, Manchester ranked 3rd, 4th, 8th and 24th, accordingly.

This is not the first time Manchester has hit the top of a list in a notable magazine’s category. In 1997, Manchester ranked 6th and Nashua placed 1st in Money Magazine’s “Best Places to Live in America.” The next year, Money ranked Manchester the “Number One Small City in the East.”

Based on the new ranking, are we going to see droves of people moving into the area, and begin to snatch up all those foreclosures and vacant real estate? It could happen, but probably won’t.

It should, however, encourage those who currently reside in the city to hold their heads up a little higher, take a little more pride in their homes and their community and give citizens a sense of pride and accomplishment that they live in such a nationally noted city.

If you want to find that inexpensive house to call home, click Manchester, NH Homes for Sale to make it a reality.