Ski towns aren’t just for billionaires and celebrities who can afford posh vacation homes. Realtor.com® researchers say there are plenty of options for everyday ski enthusiasts looking for budget-friendly homes.

“People seeking the ski town lifestyle—but who don’t want to spend a million dollars for a house—can choose a town that doesn’t come with the fancy name or famous ski resort,” says Christopher Steiner, founder of ZRankings, an analytics company that produces ski resort rankings. “To me, a real ski town is a place where you don’t waste any time commuting to and from the slopes, and the mountains close by are good enough that you’ll never get bored.”

Realtor.com®’s research team sought to find the most affordable ski towns in the U.S. by analyzing a list of more than 300 ski resorts with at least 50 homes for sale. (For geographic diversity, the researchers included only one place per state.)

The most affordable ski towns are:

1. Harrison, Mich.: $64,000 (median home price)
2. Paoli, Ind.: $94,000
3. Biwabik, Minn.: $98,000
4. Malone, N.Y.: $98,000
5. Scranton, Pa.: $98,000

Other cities making realtor.com®’s top 10 list are Bruce, Wis.; Snowshoe, W. Va.; Mansfield, Ohio; Kellogg, Idaho; and Brian Head, Utah.

Meanwhile, the priciest ski towns are Aspen, Colo. ($2,124,000 median home price) and Jackson, Wyo. ($1,324,000), according to the analysis.

Source: “Hit Peak Living in America’s 10 Most—and Least—Affordable Ski Towns,” realtor.com® (Nov. 20, 2017)

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