Those are almost exclusively rust belt towns, towns that have been largely abandoned by the wider world, where the mean wage is much lower, which is why the housing prices are lower. If you buy a house there, and wish to make the same wage you make in a city or suburb, where house prices are much higher, you'll have to commute several hours to your job. I suppose the only exceptions would be if you can work from home, or you're an independent trucker (which would still require longer travel times to get to where most of the shipping is done).