Franklin County’s low cost of living a double-edged sword

At first glance, a new study conducted by the Wall Street Journal that ranks Franklin County, Alabama, as the fourth-lowest cost of living county in the United States might seem like good news.

The study, available at 247wallst.com, used data from the United States Department of Commerce to identify the 50 least expensive U.S. counties to live in. Ten Alabama counties made the list, with Franklin County ranked as the lowest cost of living among Alabama counties, and fourth-lowest nationally.

The overall cost of living in Franklin County is 21.3% lower than the national average.

The median value of a home in Franklin County, $128,000, is approximately 62.5% lower than the national median and the median household income of $51,493 is about 33.7% lower than the national median.

Unemployment in Franklin County averages 3.6% over the past five years, a number well below the national average.

Most of the 50 cheapest cost of living counties are largely rural, many with populations under 30,000. (Franklin County has 31,978 residents).

While goods and services within the country’s 50 lowest cost of living counties have an average cost from 18.8% to 25.2% less than the national average, the lower median household incomes translate to more limited buying power than more affluent areas.

Counties that are thriving economically see population growth, often at a meteoric rate, which increases demand for goods and services, which drives prices up.

It’s the economic equivalent of glass half-full or half-empty, depending on your perspective. Lower cost of living averages mean it’s less expensive to sustain a home and family, but the corresponding lower median incomes and lower home values drive up the county’s poverty rate.

In 2024, 19.1% of Franklin County residents lived in poverty, generally defined as a total household incomes of $29,000 or less for a family of four.

And the percentage of those living in poverty increased an alarming 10.2% in one year from 2023 to 2024, as Franklin County emerged from the global COVID-19 global pandemic.

34.4% of Franklin County children live in poverty. The overall poverty rate in Franklin County is 19.1%, higher than the national average of 12.5%. Approximately 6,040 of Franklin County’s 31,600 residents live below the poverty line.

According to the MIT Living Wage Calculator, a single adult in Franklin County with no children needs a pre-tax annual income of $39,346 to cover basic expenses, while a family of four requires $93,447 in Franklin County.

The other nine Alabama counties making the list of America’s 50 least expensive counties and their rankingsincluded: Pickens County (50), DeKalb County (46), Jackson County (37), Randolph County (29), Marion County (28), Fayette County (25), Lamar County (18), Winston County (12), Clay County (10).

Tishomingo County, Miss., ranked sixth on the list.