If you want to experience city living but your house hunt has been less than fruitful, you might be overlooking some underrated cities to buy a home in the United States.

The most underrated city for homebuyers doesn't fall on one of the coasts, but instead in northern Alabama, according to a recent LendingTree report. Huntsville, Alabama, topped the ranking of best overlooked metro areas for homeownership, which evaluated a range of factors, including median home value, homeownership rate and median annual property taxes.

The study looked at 142 metropolitan areas outside of the 50 largest U.S. cities with populations of at least 250,000. The population minimum helped guaranteed that the areas wouldn't be so small as to be completely overlooked by those who want to live in a city.

Though Huntsville didn't rank first in any one category, the city was generally strong across the board. It has a high median home value compared with the other cities on the list, but it has the fourth-lowest property taxes.

Experts typically recommend spending less than 30% of your income on housing, and Huntsville residents only shell out 17.5% of income on median monthly housing costs, a figure that was the second lowest in that category among cites considered in the report.

Cities in Indiana, which boasts one of the best U.S. housing markets, and West Virginia rounded out the top five, all of which had median home values of less than $300,000. That's in contrast with the national median home price of an existing home, which was around $426,900 as of June.    

Here are the 10 most underrated cities to buy a home in the U.S., according to LendingTree.

1. Huntsville, Alabama

• Homeownership rate: 70.46%
• Median home value: $292,700         
• Median annual property taxes for homes with a mortgage: $963

2. Huntington, West Virginia

• Homeownership rate: 74.3%         
• Median home value: $155,200         
• Median annual property taxes for homes with a mortgage: $1,209      

3. Fort Wayne, Indiana

• Homeownership rate:70.67%          
• Median home value: $200,400         
• Median annual property taxes for homes with a mortgage: $1,535      

4. Charleston, West Virginia

• Homeownership rate: 68.93%         
• Median home value: $128,400        
• Median annual property taxes for homes with a mortgage: $977          

5. South Bend, Indiana

• Homeownership rate: 68.86%         
• Median home value: $187,400         
• Median annual property taxes for homes with a mortgage: $1,605      

6. Canton, Ohio

• Homeownership rate: 69.92%         
• Median home value: $170,400         
• Median annual property taxes for homes with a mortgage: $2,309      

7. Cedar Rapids, Iowa

• Homeownership rate: 76.49%         
• Median home value: $195,100         
• Median annual property taxes for homes with a mortgage: $3,123      

8. Salisbury, Maryland

• Homeownership rate: 77.2%         
• Median home value: $338,600         
• Median annual property taxes for homes with a mortgage: $1,476      

9. Columbia, South Carolina

• Homeownership rate: 70.07%         
• Median home value: $218,300         
• Median annual property taxes for homes with a mortgage: $1,336      

10. Kingsport, Tennessee

• Homeownership rate: 74.82%         
• Median home value: $185,700         
• Median annual property taxes for homes with a mortgage: $1,055      

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