10 Almost-Abandoned Towns in America Where a Parcel Costs Less Than Your Phone

💵 A new iPhone 18 Pro costs $1,199. In ten almost-abandoned American towns, a parcel of land costs less than that, and in three of them the bidding starts at $100. Some of these towns once had two or three times the people they have today. Most of the lots sit on real streets, and most of them will never show up on Zillow. 💵 🏛️ The sellers are, for the most part, the states and the counties themselves. For every town you get the real price and where it comes from, why the town has been emptying out, the nearest hospital and the honest catch. Stay to the end for the one word in these auctions that decides whether a $100 lot stays a $100 lot. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 0:00 Land Cheaper Than a $1,199 Phone, and Why Nobody Buys It 1:56 #10 Nearly an Acre for $1,000, Half an Hour From a Big City 5:47 #9 A $925 Lot With a Tax Bill of About $7 a Year 9:09 #8 A $350 City Lot With a Trauma Hospital in Town 12:32 #7 27 Parcels Under the Price of a Phone, Starting at $234 15:38 #6 The $100 Lot That Already Had Four Bids 18:39 #5 A Full Acre Inside City Limits for $399 21:26 #4 36 Parcels From $181 in a City of 41,000 24:13 #3 A 25-Foot-Wide Lot With a $100 Minimum Bid 26:59 #2 A $100 Lot With a $4.23 Tax Bill 30:05 #1 Nearly 20 Lots at $100, Minutes From a Great Lakes Beach ⚠️ A note on the numbers: auction prices are starting or minimum bids, checked on October 3, 2026, and the Michigan auctions close on October 30, 2026. A minimum bid is only the opening number: the final price can be much higher, and taxes and closing costs are added when you win. The $1,000 and $925 lots are single private listings from 2026 and may already be sold. Land sold for unpaid taxes can come with a cloudy title. Look up the parcel with the county before you bid. This video is not legal, financial or real estate advice. 📊 SOURCES 📱 iPhone 18 Pro U.S. price ($1,199): Apple, September 2026 launch 🏛️ Population, past and present, and vacant homes: U.S. Census Bureau (decennial census; Idlewild: 2019 estimate) 🏷️ Arkansas starting bids, checked October 3, 2026: Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands post-auction sale, auction.cosl.org 🔨 Michigan minimum bids and tax amounts, Genesee, Ontonagon, Lake and Berrien counties, bids due October 30, 2026: tax-sale.info 🏠 The $1,000 and $925 lots and the $7.22 yearly tax: individual listings on Landmodo, May and March 2026 📍 Hospitals, distances and town details: local data published in 2026 🔔 Subscribe to Still Affordable America. Every price comes with its source, and every town comes with its catch. --- 📷 IMAGE CREDITS (Wikimedia Commons / Openverse / Mapillary) ⚓ Freedom: three "New Freedom, Pennsylvania" photos by Doug Kerr, CC BY-SA 2.0. Street photos by lvl5 (Mapillary), CC BY-SA 4.0. 🌌 Estancia: "Downtown Estancia, New Mexico", "Estancia NM Buildings", "Estancia Water Tower" and one more photo by Asaavedra32, CC BY-SA 3.0. "Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument" by Dan Alltop, CC BY-SA 3.0. Street photo by missmichiko (Mapillary), CC BY-SA 4.0. 🚗 Flint: "Greetings from Flint, Michigan" postcard by Steve Shook, CC BY 2.0. "Chinmaya Mission Flint MI" by Shibamouli Lahiri and one photo by Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0. Street photos by networklanman (Mapillary), CC BY-SA 4.0. 🌾 Dermott: "Downtown Dermott, Arkansas" (three photos), "Chicot County Training School" and "Crenshaw-Burleigh House" by Brandonrush, and "Dermott Bank & Trust Company Building" by Valis55, CC BY-SA 3.0. Street photos by ronbo7769 and Montrose_Lyle (Mapillary), CC BY-SA 4.0. 🏛️ Camden: "Camden welcome sign" by Billy Hathorn, CC BY-SA 3.0. "Benjamin T. Powell House" by Valis55, CC BY-SA 4.0. Street photos by Montrose_Lyle (Mapillary), CC BY-SA 4.0. 🚂 Pine Bluff: "Community Theatre, Pine Bluff, Arkansas" by Paul Sableman and "Pine Bluff AR - main street and courthouse" by Roland Klose, CC BY 2.0. "Pine Bluff, Arkansas" by Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0. 🎣 Bergland: "2009-0617-Bergland" by Bobak Ha'Eri, CC BY 3.0. "Dollar General Retail Store - Michigan" by Tony Webster, CC BY-SA 2.0. Street photos by networklanman (Mapillary), CC BY-SA 4.0. 🌲 Idlewild: "Idlewild Cultural Center" and "Idlewild Lot Owners Association" by rossograph, CC BY-SA 4.0. "Idlewild Lake" and "Idlewild historical marker" by Gpwitteveen, CC BY-SA 3.0. 🍑 Benton Harbor: "Benton Harbor Fruit Market" by rossograph, CC BY-SA 4.0. "Main Street Downtown Benton Harbor" by Humbles Art, CC BY-SA 3.0. Street photos by z0rg (Mapillary), CC BY-SA 4.0. 🌐 Also public domain and CC0 images (Nyttend, NPS, AllenS, The Rotograph Co., Tichnor Brothers, WMrapids, Tim-desser, Kenneth C. Zirkel). Maps: USGS imagery; place data © OpenStreetMap contributors. 🎬 Stock footage: Pexels and Pixabay. ⚖️ Licenses: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, by/3.0, by/4.0, by-sa/2.0, by-sa/3.0, by-sa/4.0