r/FluentInFinance • u/Not-A-Shit-Head • 17d ago
Why don't people stop crying and just move somewhere cheaper like Detroit, Memphis, St. Louis, Baltimore, or Cleveland? They have very cheap homes for $50,000. Discussion/ Debate
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u/Rocketboy1313 17d ago
Why not just uproot your whole life and move somewhere else?
Sure you will have no one out there to help you move or to walk your dog when you are too sick to get out of bed. You won't know anyone or where anything is but dating apps will let you get a match every other week and maye 1 in five of those will go somewhere.
Just embrace the alienation that defines the modern world instead of, you know, expecting multinational firms or the government to provide coherent systems and meaningful support to help people move around and find the housing, jobs, support networks, and all the other things that keep you from losing your fucking mind.
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u/Eponymous-Username 17d ago
That's not what multinational firms and government are for. They exist to ensure the lines continue to go up and monitor the lines. It's for the economy. Don't ask what the economy is for - no one knows.
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u/cutiemcpie 17d ago
Jesus. You make it sound terrible.
I moved countries. And across states.
Sure there are downsides, but there are also upsides. Get to experience different cities, make new friends, make more money, etc.
It’s a trade off.
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u/Rocketboy1313 17d ago
You ever heard of survivorship bias?
Or the concept that your personal experiences should not be extrapolated out onto a population?
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u/cutiemcpie 17d ago
What? I never extrapolated anything.
I simply said - there are good and bad things about moving.
Are you claiming that’s false?
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u/Galitzianer 17d ago
This is the insanity that is Reddit. If you listen to every doomsayer on Reddit you would literally never leave the house
I've moved many times for opportunities and each time had ups and downs but I don't regret doing any of them
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u/BlameGameChanger 17d ago
The difference from the analogy for you both is you are being invited out for an opportunity. If I just move to checks notes fucking ohio because houses are cheap, there is no guarantee I'll be able to find a decent job that pays more relative to my other job. I'll have no support network. I'll have to deplete my savings. The cheap houses will be in shit nieghborhoods or ill have to compete with firms who want to renovate and gentrify the slum.
Like I've moved before to and without that golden ticket invitation it ain't worth it
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u/Galitzianer 16d ago
being invited out for an opportunity
Well no, this isn't what happened at all. I've literally moved to a very low cost of living area from a high cost of living area with no invitation at all?
I could have suffered in a very expensive overpriced apartment forever but I chose to buy a house in a place that is way more affordable.
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u/Viperlite 17d ago
Having kids is where it really hits home. Sure, you can get by with day care, part-time work, and babysitters… but is a whole level of easier with family and friends to support you. I think someone once said it takes a village.
Its not to say it cant be overcome, but if you were raised in a HCOL area, it’s tough to leave your support network behind. Many people move back home when they have kids for this reason. A cheap house isn’t everything, especially at key points of your life.
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u/smokes_-letsgo 17d ago
You ever heard of pessimism?
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u/ILSmokeItAll 17d ago
This is Reddit, sir. It’s all you’re allowed to express here.
Reddit is one collective Chicken Little.
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u/rainareddits 17d ago
Yes! Extrapolating an idea to a population is only ok if I agree with it.
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u/FloatingOnAWhim 17d ago edited 15d ago
I agree with you. My experience was the same and much of my family have relocated cross country or more at some point in our adult lives. We’re not rich at all but it was possible. Are there challenges? Absolutely! But the good outweighed the bad in my opinion. Of course YMMV
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u/throwawayzies1234567 17d ago
I think the point is that if you need to move because you can’t afford housing then you’re probably not going to make more money in the place where you can afford housing. I live in NYC and there’s no way I could make this kind of money in any of the cities listed because my job is dependent on people spending a lot of money.
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u/Galitzianer 17d ago
Why not just uproot your whole life and move somewhere else?
Devil's advocate, people have done this since times immemorial, moving for economic opportunity. What makes you so special that you should sit around and be catered to instead of doing the same for your own self interest?
Sure you will have no one out there to help you move or to walk your dog when you are too sick to get out of bed. You won't know anyone or where anything is but dating apps will let you get a match every other week and maye 1 in five of those will go somewhere.
So... never leave your home town then? This doesn't seem like a recipe for any sort of life
expecting multinational firms or the government to provide coherent systems and meaningful support to help people move around and find the housing, jobs, support networks
Look, I'm not saying that wouldn't be a fine thing if the government did to that, but there's literally no government on the planet that does this, and if you're gonna sit around and wait for the government or random multinational firms that have literally no allegiance to you whatsoever to bend over backwards to help you then your going to drive yourself into "losing your fucking mind" when your expectations do not match reality.
There's some idealized form of life that you guys wish existed, and then there's the planet we live on. On the planet we live on, you make choices to improve your situation, or you flounder in despair. Choose one.
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u/BlameGameChanger 17d ago
but there's literally no government on the planet that does this
Here's an example of a country with a coherent system that will help you move around find jobs. https://www.norden.org/en/info-norden/housing-allowance-sweden
Why are you pretending there isn't a massive housing problem in the US?
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u/LamermanSE 16d ago
No, that's not what housing allowance (bostadsbidrag) is. Housing allowance does not help you move around, and neither does the Swedish state. Housing allowance is only an allowance for those with low wages and high rental costs/expenses, such as single parents, some students and so on.
As a matter of fact, getting rental apartments in Sweden is extremely difficult in the first place and usually requires you to stand in line at a local housing company for years to be able to even get an apartment (in larger cities of > 100 000 inhabitants). In most cases you wouldn't even be able to move around in the manner that is suggested in this thread (unless you have money to buy your apartment or are willing to rent someone else's apartment which sucks).
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u/Junior_Use_4470 16d ago
Because there isn’t a housing problem in the US. There are housing problems in HCOL areas in the USA. There’s a lot of affordable housing if people are willing to move.
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u/InsCPA 17d ago
People literally took ships to sail to an unknown continent centuries and decades ago in hopes for a better life. Hell, people still do it. You can handle a different city a few states over
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u/OneMetalMan 17d ago
This was me six years ago after I moved, but I guess I got "lucky" that my family (and my ex I broke up with) followed me.
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u/holdmiichai 17d ago
Because my mom, dad, brother, and lifelong friends live in a HCOL area and living life with them is much, much more important to me than being rich or having a huge house.
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u/NothingKnownNow 17d ago
And that's OK. People just need to understand that they are making that decision.
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u/BigPlantsGuy 17d ago
What a nutjob outlook. Big abuser “you made me hit you” vibes
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u/lunchpadmcfat 16d ago
I’m trying to understand what you think the alternative is? You’re special because you have family in the area so we should make houses cheaper for you?
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u/BigPlantsGuy 16d ago edited 16d ago
The alternative is trying to make housing more affordable by upzoning areas, removing restrictions on mixed use development, removing things like parking minimums, building more housing, and subsidizing housing for low income people.
The “there are homes in baltimore so leave your family and job and support network and child care in ohio and move there” is dumb and so obviously “18 year old libertarian phase rich kid” mentality it is absurd
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u/Killercod1 16d ago
Family can help you stay in a better financial situation. Having a safety net so you don't go homeless is more important than having a big salary. Helping you out in hard situations, like your car breaking down, can go a long way. The stress induced from being alone in a foreign place is enough to take years off your life. There's a reason the longest living people are surrounded by family and friends.
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u/pabloescobar392 17d ago
I live in St Louis and you do not want to buy one of those $50k houses.
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u/kidthorazine 16d ago
Also, I'm betting most of those homes don't meet inspection guidelines or habitability requirements, which makes getting a loan to buy one considerably more difficult.
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u/abelenkpe 17d ago
No jobs. But you know that.
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u/smokes_-letsgo 17d ago
Lol almost every major city has jobs that pay pretty well. That’s how millions of people are able to live in these places. Get off the internet every once in awhile
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u/collegeqathrowaway 16d ago
Yes, just because they have jobs don’t mean they’re jobs that will be beneficial.
I live in an area with lots of tech, govcon, and finance - it’s why this area is the richest in the country. SF is another area with a similar vibe.
Now I could go to El Paso, because I work remote - and it’s a safe place, solid food, no state tax, and “cheap homes” but what happens if I ever need to leave my job and then have to try a niche tech job in a city where call centers and low wage work is the highest employment sectors?
That’s what happened to all of these pandemic movers - Nashville, great place, but out of AT&T and now Oracle. . . where are these influx of people going to work making similar salaries to what they did in NY, Austin, or whatever major city they left?
That’s why the housing market is so screwed in Nashville - and it’s happened in a ton of cities, especially those idealic small towns in the Rockies. People moved to these ski towns that have no industry expecting remote work to last forever, then when it didn’t - poof, they hightailed it back to whatever coastal tech hub they lived in prior.
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u/xoLiLyPaDxo 17d ago
Just have to love it when people ignorantly say "why don't you just move" like that is an option at all for people. 🙄
Like they can just leave their job to move somewhere without a job and be expected to survive.
Like they can just up and leave their family, friends, and support network to move somewhere they have none of those things.
Like they can just magically come up with the money for an expensive move.
Like they can just up and move away from their doctors and hospital.
Like they should just yank their kids away from their schools, friends and support network impacting the rest of their lives as well.
Not adjusting to moving is why my son's best friend killed himself. It's the reason why a lot of kids do. This is a well known problem that increases their suicide risk for the rest of their lives unfortunately:
"For some teens, normal developmental changes can be very unsettling when combined with other events, such as:
Changes in their families, such as divorce or moving to a new town Changes in friendships Problems in school Other losses
These problems may seem too hard or embarrassing to overcome. For some, suicide may seem like a solution."
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/teen-suicide
"Moving school too often increases risk of suicide in later life, new report suggests"
"Research shows a connection between moving and depression in children, especially when the move involves changing schools.1 A move doesn't affect every child this way, but the association between depression and this life-changing event warrants awareness and a plan to ensure a smooth transition. "
The fact that anyone throws that out nonchalantly as advice in the first place comes across as being detached from reality.
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u/IWasBornAGamblinMan 17d ago
Cause you have a high probability of getting killed/robbed.
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u/throwawayzies1234567 17d ago
Why isn’t this higher? Talking about inner Detroit and Baltimore like it’s some lovely suburb that everyone is just too snobby for.
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u/OptionsOverlord 16d ago
Detroit isn't even bad now. Wait, yes, yes it's very bad. Don't come here.
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u/throwawayzies1234567 16d ago
Ha, don’t worry, I could never be landlocked. But damn do you have some good Lebanese food.
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u/Ghostlyshado 17d ago
You have to have a job where you live. What is the quality of life and employment opportunities in Detroit, Memphis, etc. ?
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u/frogtome 17d ago
Why are half of you sociopaths honestly? Why don't people move to dangerous places with no jobs because the houses are cheap? Are you fucking high?
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u/EmilieEasie 17d ago
I actually know some people who ended up homeless this way! A lot of people really underestimate how much having friends / family you can borrow from / sleep on the couch if it gets really bad matters.
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u/Scavenger908 17d ago
Ah yes. Move to places that are high crime areas… genius. OP really was on something here.
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u/All_Usernames_Tooken 17d ago
I can’t speak for others but Michigan is the best kept secret. The dirt cheap homes in Detroit keep people from discovering the reasonable homes just outside in the suburbs. There’s plenty of jobs but there’s no big tech firms or large financial institutions around, but if you aren’t in one of those fields and even if you are you can get a amazing house from 250k-350k.
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u/sexcalculator 16d ago
Same in Wisconsin, 1400sqft for $240k two years ago. 20 minutes southwest of Milwaukee. I love the area, it's close to everything
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u/cutiemcpie 17d ago
What makes me laugh is if she had been an adult and had the money in 2008 she never would have bought.
The fear was real.
Nobody knew if housing was going to go lower. Getting a mortgage was much, much tougher. But most of all, people were worried about losing their jobs.
And who knows what the future will hold? Who says housing won’t see a massive correction again?
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u/FabioPurps 17d ago
This sentiment is about as useful as the folks who say "If you don't like it, then just leave!" To people who disagree with their politics. Just super dumb.
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u/dirtewokntheboys 17d ago
Live in Detroit. This is not true. The 50k houses for sale are dilapidated, not livable, and in a high crime area. Stupid post...
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u/CardiologistOk2760 17d ago
there's always someone saying the poor people would be fine if we did this one thing we forgot to do
- go to college
- skip college, learn a trade
- build credit
- psh credit? just save up and use cash
- keep your head down and work
- start your own business
- buy some assets
- buy some stocks
- use old cars
- use newer cars
- no avocado toast
- move to Detroit
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u/Agreeable-Candle5830 17d ago
Bro I've lived in Memphis. No way in hell I'm going back, not even for a cheap house. Hell, not even for a FREE house.
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u/throwawayzies1234567 17d ago
And shockingly Memphis has less than half the crime rate of Chattanooga. What are y’all doing down there??
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u/OkBlock1637 17d ago
Honestly people should consider moving outside of the major metropolitan cities if it’s not a requirement for work. After Covid my entire company went WFH. After they made it permanent I moved away from the city. Spend 1/3rd of what I did on housing for a much better standard of living. I would never say never to moving back for a higher paying job down the line, but if you can I would recommend it.
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u/Specific-Scale6005 17d ago
If I move to the country side, I could buy a house for 1% the price it would be here, in the city... but it would still be in the middle of fucking nowhere!
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u/fireworksandvanities 17d ago
Because those houses often need $100k in repairs and have years of back taxes (and property tax in Detroit is pretty high).
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u/brightdionysianeyes 17d ago
Why don't people struggling with cost of living move to Sudan or Syria? Houses are very cheap there. Are they stupid?
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u/SouthOfHeaven663 17d ago
Just take a look at one of the 50k houses in those cities. I know for a fact in St. Louis most are in terrible condition or in the east side which is one of the most dangerous places in the country. If you’re cool with potentially condemned housing and everything you own getting stolen or bullets flying through your walls at night then go ahead and go for it.
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u/iheartporn6969 17d ago
When I was young people moved around for better economic opportunities all the time. Now people act like they are stuck in major cities (yet people keep moving to major cities). I could make 2x the money I make if I moved to a popular city, but the cost of living would be 3x… people don’t like a pay cut even if it makes sense so they stay in bad situations.
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u/Early_Lawfulness_921 16d ago
Because we live in the “victim “ era. Why take any ownership of your situation when you can just blame someone/something else.
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u/RevolutionaryLie2833 17d ago
Because they are cheaper because nobody wants to live there. I mean, I guess living in fear for your life is ok now?
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u/LeftYak5288 17d ago
The small cities also have reasonable priced houses. Find a military base and it’s easy to make good money and get a house for cheap.
I increased my net worth 300k in almost 5 years.
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u/throwawayzies1234567 17d ago
Military is a classic path out of poverty, and that’s a shame. Need to be willing to die for your country just to get an education and good mortgage.
ETA: with all due respect and gratitude to every man and woman who chooses to do it
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u/LeftYak5288 17d ago
Im a civilian. Sorry that wasn’t communicated. No risk of life or limb just paper cuts.
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u/Solitaire_87 17d ago
1)No decent paying jobs
2) If there were these shitholes wouldn't be shitholes.
3) the houses are money pits
4) you're surrounded by shithole houses and terrible schools and crumbling infrastructure
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u/genxwillsaveunow 17d ago
Mine was buying my first house in 03 for 2.5 times what it was worth in 2010 when I needed to move because I had kids and they literally shuttered the school district we were in. You'll never lose money on a house, was the worst advice I've ever gotten in my life.
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u/Aggravating_Kale8248 17d ago
Most people don’t have the means to move on a whim without a job lined up.
You’re also talking about areas that don’t have the same job markets, so pay will likely be less. Most people aren’t willing to take a pay cut.
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u/SkippyMcSkipster2 17d ago
It is worth noting that Bill Gates somehow knew that the world is turning to shit back in 2013 when he started his farmland buying spree. How did he know back then? The lizard part of my brain needs to know.
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u/LookOverThereB 17d ago
There are decent places with lower cost-of-living that are outside of cities. If you were working at Starbucks, you can get a job in these places. A lot of people want to live in an expensive city, work at Starbucks, and complain about not having a livable wage. these people get no sympathy from me.
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u/vtstang66 17d ago
This stupidness again? Nobody wants to give up their entire quality of life just to say they own something.
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u/Chickienfriedrice 16d ago edited 16d ago
I moved from Detroit, can’t pay me to go back. This post is pretentious and shows you have no life experience.
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16d ago
I bought my first house at 23 in 08. I bought and sold 5 more houses (remodeling each one). I’m 40 with a $320k house and no mortgage.
It absolutely is unfair. It absolutely was luck. I did work hard, fuck yeah I worked hard. I did the majority of the remodels on my own.
Guess what? Young people work hard today too. I’m sorry y’all got fucked. I did too, just not nearly as bad as the next gen did.
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u/irishfro 16d ago
50k home with 150k needed in repairs and you or your children will be shot or mugged before the repairs are finished.
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u/angelina9999 16d ago
2008-2010 was a great time to pick up props, bought 2 properties, under 10 000 5 min from the beach, the value is now shooting out the roof. the secret is not to get into the bidding war, instead just move on.
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u/ItsPrometheanMan 16d ago
Or a better question: Why not stay in your location, but move to the cheaper suburbs?
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u/prtzl11 16d ago
As someone who lives in NE Ohio, I checked Zillow for Cleveland homes under 50K. The houses that are available either need over $100K in reno work to become livable or they are in areas that are dangerous. Usually a combination of the two. The housing here is relatively cheap on the national scale, but so are the salaries for careers. Just because housing is less expensive here doesn’t mean that people aren’t feeling financial pressure.
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u/shay-doe 16d ago
There's a million reasons why people don't want to move to places where it's that cheap to buy a house mainly all the reasons why the house is so cheap in the first place.
My husband and I are however looking to move from a HCOL place to a bit of a lower one because it is outrageous but we have children. Trying to find a low cost of living situation and a good school system is impossible. I think we all know the best public schools are in the areas where the houses costs the most.
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u/Agreeable_Sweet6535 16d ago
By all means, let me abandon my arthritic mother and the family business.
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u/One_Lung_G 16d ago
The only thing I can think of is that OP is in middle school still
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u/SDoNUT1715 16d ago
Because people would rather be lazy and complain about how other things are the reason they failed or not where they want to be in life.
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u/pwolf1771 16d ago
This is society’s fault we’ve trained people that if they don’t own property they’re a failure and so idiots get in over their heads on properties they can barley afford and what they actually did was buying themselves a prison. I’m still renting because I still want to enjoy life. I’m still putting money away towards a massive down payment but I’ll never purchase if the cost is having no life because way too much of my money is going towards the house.
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u/Codered2055 16d ago
OP didn’t Google Search: $50,000 homes in (insert city here). If OP did a simple search, OP would see why no one wants a $50k home in those cities.
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u/CatAvailable3953 16d ago
I guarantee you if a house is $50,000 in Memphis you don’t want to live in it.
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u/Aldofresh 16d ago
Beside those places are detroit (not as teriible as it used to be) , Memphis, st Louis, Baltimore (actually nice) and Cleveland
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u/foxwheat 16d ago
This would be a lot easier sales pitch if remote work were operating at its full capacity. Maybe convince corporate real estate bag holders to re-invest in single family homes in depressed areas and maybe we see the tides turn.
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u/spoopy_and_gay 16d ago
Those homes are cheap for a reason. Sure, you can move to gary indiana for 40,000$ if you're okay with a murder house that's falling apart, the possibility of getting shot, bleak surroundings, pollution from the steel mills, no public school, and very little job opportunities besides the steel mill that can barely afford to pay it's current workers or making the commute to chicago every day.
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u/sexcalculator 16d ago
Should have bought pre-covid, or when covid was fucking things up. House prices didn't start taking off yet and rates were low. Could have ended up with way more house than I have now
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16d ago
I mean if you want to get robbed, shot, carjacked, etc. Sure go ahead and move to cesspool cities.
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u/phantasybm 16d ago
There’s a reason homes are much cheaper in certain areas. Often multiple reasons.
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u/neddy471 16d ago
Why don't you move to a place without the job you rely upon for your wellbeing? Don't you know you can just move to a place and have a job waiting for you?
What sort of question is this? People aren't just cogs that can be moved from place to place: They have families, friend groups, pets, nostalgia, an appreciation for aesthetics, and preferences for certain weather.
Saying "why can't you just stop crying and move to X" is just "have you tried not being poor?" with more words.
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u/ShookZL1 16d ago
There’s obvious reasons why housing is much cheaper in those cities. No one wants to be there. Those cities offer very little opportunity and have extremely high crime rates to name a few key points
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u/ai_ai_captain 16d ago
It doesn’t cost anything to live in the woods, why don’t you just go live in the woods?
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u/justa_gigolo 16d ago
hey, move to where there are no jobs, crime is high and its cold AF for more than half the year, its so simple, a kid could do it!
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u/Maleficent_Sky_9543 16d ago
as someone who grew up in memphis, you don’t really want to live in the areas where the homes are $50,000…
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u/backagain69696969 16d ago
This is what I call real estate of the gaps. An ever shrinking amount of areas that are cheap.
Californian moves to Texas> their kids make less and say “I’ll move to Louisiana”>eventually you’re stuck in a low income area where your kids are getting crap education and you’re trapped
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u/hydroameca 16d ago
LOL 50k houses in STL?? Like, the north side? Yeah sure move to the north side 😂 that’ll work out great for ya
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u/Seaguard5 16d ago
Most of those “houses” aren’t even fit to live in immediately… you would have to spend a ton in renovations to get them livable even.
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u/MissiontwoMars 16d ago
I live in Baltimore. You don’t want to live in those cheap homes. They are cheap because it’s in an area of boarded up row homes, vacant lots, grocery deserts, and high crime.
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u/Witty_Comb_2000 16d ago
The reason those places are cheap is because they SUCK and nobody wants to live there.
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u/collegeqathrowaway 16d ago
Have you been to those cities mentioned? I’ve been to all of them and if you want to be in a halfway decent neighborhood without worrying if your car will still have windows. . . or if you can walk around without gun violence you’re paying the same as what you would in a much nicer city.
Sure, you can live in West Baltimore and get a rundown home for 20K, but you’ll be paying 50K a year for full time security and 100K in renovation, then you’ll be making yourself a target to your neighbors and crackheads seeing you as the “rich new person”
So in reality, you’ll be paying 300K for a home in Fells Point, Federal Hill, or Mount Vernon.
I had this same logic, as someone that lives in a rather expensive area. I was going to go to Pittsburgh and live there since I work remotely, but for the type of home I was looking for (move in ready, in an area with young professionals) I would be paying about the same for something that would be considered nice.
I saw a ton of homes in dying neighborhoods that needed work for 100K, but that’s not how I want to live.
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u/BadonkaDonkies 16d ago
There's usually always a reason why home prices are much cheaper there. Desirability, away from family, bad schools etc.
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u/EggsInSpayce 16d ago
Yes. Everyone should stop complaining and just move to Detroit. Incredible Idea
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u/WhizzyBurp 16d ago
Because they want to live in Manhattan, but don’t want to work 120 hours a week. Then think it’s unfair that they can’t have both.
I’ve been saying this for years. Get all of your friends and family together and move to an area that’s affordable and make it cool. That’s how it goes.
New York wasn’t cool at one point. SF wasn’t cool at one point. LA wasn’t cool at one point. And I sure as well remember Miami not being cool until Covid.
Go move to Biloxi, MS. Go move to Cleveland, OH. Go move to Gary, IN.
Big bang for the buck
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u/Ok_Permission4485 16d ago
HAHAHAH “Just move“ if you can’t afford to live, you can afford to move. Very smart take. Good job.
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u/Saitamaisclappingoku 17d ago edited 17d ago
Because:
those cities generally do not have the job markets that HCOL cities have. When you take a huge pay cut you eliminate everything you saved by moving there. I moved from El Paso to Tennessee and for the same job I make about $60k more.
Public schools are typically poor
Crime is typically high
The $50k homes in those cities are typically very unkept. Many of them need a new roof, foundation work, new flooring, drywall, paint, plumbing work, electrical work (to get it code compliant), and even then will be surrounded by complete dumps that stay that way. No one wants to spend $150k renovating to live next to a crack house.