well supposedly Houston has the lowest cost of living in the U.S. You can still get a modest 4-bedroom newly built house for $200,000 --- out in BFE. But in the city (where I live) they go on up into the millions. Not ours, though. My great grandparents built the house I live in. Wooden, strong and sturdy... Its not worth much, but its paid for, however taxes are a kick in the arse.
The payoff for me is that I can drive to North, South, East and West BFE and get there in 30 minutes with hardly any traffic cos I'm usually going against it. :P