Lakeside southern oasis named one of the most affordable places to live. Where champion golfers play and savvy buyers are snapping up mansions for CHEAP

For Americans feeling priced out of the housing market, one scenic Southern town is emerging as one of the country's best-kept real estate secrets.

Nestled between the shores of Cherokee Lake and the rolling foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, Morristown, Tennessee, has just been ranked among America's most affordable places to live – yet buyers can still find sprawling luxury homes, private estates and lakefront mansions for a fraction of what they'd pay elsewhere.

New analysis by veterans support organization Vettory found Morristown is the fourth-cheapest metropolitan area in America, with typical monthly household costs totaling around $4,135 – nearly $1,900 less each month than in San Francisco, the nation's most expensive metro.

While many buyers battling sky-high prices in California, New York and Florida are forced to compromise on space, Morristown offers a very different proposition: million-dollar lifestyles without the million-dollar price tags.

Luxury buyers can find custom-built homes with pools, private docks, home theaters, acreage and panoramic lake views for well under $1 million.

Hannah Jones, senior economist at Realtor.com, told the Daily Mail that while Morristown's median listing price reached $459,000 in June – slightly above the national median – buyers still receive considerably more for their money than in many of America's best-known waterfront markets.

'The median listing price in Morristown, TN was $459,000 in June, slightly above the national norm but far more affordable than pricey coastal destinations,' Jones said.

'That figure climbs further along the water: Morristown sits on the Cherokee Reservoir, and lakefront properties there command a steep premium over the metro median, reflecting their scarcity, shoreline access and views. 

'Even so, that premium still may buy considerably more house, acreage and shoreline than a comparable waterfront property in California or Florida, where equivalent lake or coastal footage often costs multiples more.'

Examples of Morristown's value can be found in current listings. 

One $1.2 million home on Starboard Crest Road comes with almost 4,000 square feet of space, four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a two-car garage and a sizeable 0.76-acre lot - offering the kind of upscale lake-country lifestyle that can cost several times more in California or Florida.

At the other end of the market, a newly built $579,900 property on Bridgewater Boulevard delivers three bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and nearly 1,900 square feet of contemporary living space, showing why the town is attracting everyone from retirees to younger buyers seeking more for their money.

The East Tennessee community, home to around 30,000 residents, has quietly become a magnet for retirees, remote workers and buyers relocating from more expensive states.

Its appeal stretches well beyond affordability.

Morristown sits less than an hour from Knoxville and around 45 minutes from Great Smoky Mountains National Park, while Cherokee Lake offers more than 400 miles of shoreline popular for boating, fishing and watersports.

Golf also plays a major role in the area's appeal - the nearby Holston Hills Country Club hosted a handful of Tennessee championships over the decades. Highly rated courses sit within easy driving distance, attracting golfers looking for championship-caliber play without resort-town prices. 

The town combines mountain scenery with relatively low property taxes, affordable utilities and everyday living costs that remain well below the national average.

According to Vettory's analysis, only Pine Bluff, Arkansas; McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas; and Beckley, West Virginia, offer lower overall household costs among America's metropolitan areas.

Researchers converted official federal Regional Price Parities into the estimated monthly cost of a standard $5,000 basket of housing, utilities, groceries and other everyday expenses.

Morristown's basket came in at approximately $4,135 per month.

By comparison, households in San Francisco face estimated monthly living costs approaching $5,990 for the same basket, while San Jose, Los Angeles, San Diego and Seattle also ranked among America's most expensive metropolitan areas.

The findings highlight how dramatically household budgets can vary depending on where Americans choose to live - and families should look beyond headline salaries when considering relocation.

'A salary can look attractive until rent, childcare, utilities and commuting costs are deducted,' one of Vettory's financial support specialists said. 'Before moving, households should compare the money left after essentials and check which forms of local support they could qualify for.'

And unlike many low-cost areas that lack higher-end housing, Morristown's luxury market continues to offer substantial value. 

Listings regularly feature five-and six-bedroom homes with outdoor entertaining areas, finished basements, and several acres of land – amenities that could easily command several million dollars in cities such as Los Angeles or Seattle.

The affordability has become increasingly attractive as buyers search for alternatives to overheated housing markets.

According to the analysis, Southern metros dominate the nation's least expensive places to live, although researchers caution that lower prices do not automatically translate into higher disposable incomes because wages also tend to be lower.

Still, for buyers relocating from expensive metropolitan areas, selling a modest home elsewhere can often provide enough equity to purchase a substantially larger property outright or dramatically reduce monthly mortgage costs.

The study ranked the ten least expensive metropolitan areas as Pine Bluff, Arkansas; McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas; Beckley, West Virginia; Morristown, Tennessee; Jonesboro, Arkansas; Jackson, Tennessee; Brownsville-Harlingen, Texas; Joplin, Missouri; Hattiesburg, Mississippi; and Anniston-Oxford, Alabama.

At the opposite end of the rankings were San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle, Urban Honolulu, New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Sacramento.