The Best Metros and Towns for First-Time Homeowners

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By Joe Roberts

Jan 25, 2021

3 min read

Few financial decisions are as big a deal as buying your first home. While real estate is typically a smart investment since houses tend to appreciate long-term,¹ it can take years or even decades of paying your mortgage before you reap any financial benefits.

For that reason, it’s wise to buy a home you like in a location you can afford instead of holding out for the ideal home in your favorite city. Your dream house will still be there after you’ve built up some home equity.

To help you find the most affordable cities for first-time homebuyers, we looked at home prices in the US’s biggest cities and metro areas and some smaller metro areas. Keep reading to find out which cities you could afford a mortgage in.

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What are the most affordable big cities or metro areas to buy your first home in?

For most people, buying a house somewhere like New York or San Francisco isn’t realistic. Don’t despair, though. You can still get the big-city experience without living in an apartment your whole life.

Below, we’ve listed 10 cities and metro areas that best balance affordable houses with large populations.

10 large cities and metro areas with the most affordable homes

Affordability rank	Metro area	Median home value	Population rank
1	McAllen-Edinburg-Mission Metro Area, TX	$87,100	855,176
2	Cape Coral-Fort Myers Metro Area, FL	$224,800	737,468
3	Lakeland-Winter Haven Metro Area, FL	$150,800	686,218
4	Boise City, ID	$239,900	710,743
5	Baton Rouge, LA	$181,700	854,318
6	Greenville-Anderson Metro Area, SC	$163,400	895,942
7	Ogden-Clearfield Metro Area, UT	$255,500	662,875
8	Columbia, SC	$154,400	824,278
9	Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville Metro Area, FL	$196,400	585,507
10	Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach Metro Area, FL	$184,200	646,288

Data as of 1/22/2021.

Good news for beach-lovers: while a few cities all over the country made our top 10, Florida came in with the strongest showing of affordable housing areas by far. Four of the ten most affordable metros for first-time homebuyers are in Florida.

If you’re not seeing your favorite big city in our top 10, you can see where it ranks by skipping ahead to our list of the 100 most affordable big cities and metro areas.

10 small metro areas with the most affordable homes

Affordability rank	City	Median home value	Population rank
1	Sebring-Avon Park Metro Area, FL	$108,100	103,437
2	Beckley Metro Area, WV	$101,800	118,828
3	Pine Bluff Metro Area, AR	$83,300	90,865
4	Gadsden Metro Area, AL	$113,700	102,748
5	Bay City Metro Area, MI	$102,000	104,104
6	Anniston-Oxford Metro Area, AL	$118,000	114,618
7	Parkersburg-Vienna Metro Area, WV	$122,300	90,758
8	Hot Springs Metro Area, AR	$139,900	98,555
9	Danville Metro Area, IL	$79,900	77,563
10	Weirton-Steubenville Metro Area, WV-OH	$93,000	118,213

Data current as of 1/22/2021.

As you can see, our list of small metro areas with affordable homes is almost entirely made up of cities in southern states. This means that if you want an affordable home in an area with a population of about 100,000 people, the South is a great place to start your search.

Are larger cities or metro areas always more expensive?

Housing prices are all about supply and demand, so areas with larger populations, especially those that are growing faster, typically have higher home values. Of course, there are notable exceptions to this rule.

For example, the median home value in Texas’s McAllen-Edinburg-Mission Metro Area is $87,100, and the area’s population is 855,176. While this population is roughly eight times higher than any city in our small metro areas list, the area’s median home value is lower than all but two of them.

So, does the rule that bigger populations equal higher home values tend to hold true? Let’s look at home values in some of the biggest metro areas to find out.

10 metro areas with the priciest median home values

City/metro area	Median home value	Population
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara Metro Area, CA	$968,800	1,987,846
San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley Metro Area, CA	$840,600	4,701,332
Urban Honolulu Metro Area, HI	$678,200	984,821
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim Metro Area, CA	$613,400	13,249,614
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura Metro Area, CA	$588,400	847,263
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad Metro Area, CA	$563,700	3,316,073
New York-Newark-Jersey City Metro Area, NY-NJ-PA	$450,900	19,294,236
Boston-Cambridge-Newton Metro Area, MA-NH	$437,500	4,832,346
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue Metro Area, WA	$436,100	3,871,323
Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk Metro Area, CT	$428,500	943,926

Data current as of 01/22/2021.

This data clearly shows that home prices in huge metro areas are much higher than those in less populous cities. However, it also illustrates that there isn’t always a one-to-one correlation between population density and housing prices.

Just look at the median home value in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara Metro Area. It’s the highest home value on our list, and its median home price is over $100,000 higher than the next highest. However, the area’s population isn’t even in the top five. Additionally, some of the US’s biggest cities (like Chicago) didn’t even make our list of the 10 cities and metro areas with the priciest homes.

This is because population density isn’t the only determiner of home value. Other factors like location, a city’s economic health, and a home’s age also contribute to its value.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for an affordable home, stay away from cities and metro areas with immense populations. If you can afford a more expensive home, though, some densely populated areas are more affordable than others, and you might be able to score a relatively cheap mortgage in a big city.

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American Van Lines	$6,214*	Yes	4.5	None	Get a Quote
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*Based on a 3-bedroom across-country move.

Methodology

To get our rankings, we evaluated metro areas based on the following factors:

Median home value ²
Percentage of homes built in or since the year 2000³
Percentage of occupied homes⁴
Median gross rent as a percentage of household income⁵
Median monthly housing costs⁶

We pulled this data from US Census Bureau sources. Cities and metro areas were not ranked for other factors like job opportunities or economic growth.

Sources

Investopedia, “The Truth About Real Estate Prices.” Updated August 30, 2020. Accessed January 11, 2021.
United States Census Bureau, “Median Value.” Accessed January 12, 2021.
United States Census Bureau, “Year Structure Built.” Accessed January 12, 2021.
United States Census Bureau, “Selected Housing Characteristics.” Accessed January 12, 2021.
United States Census Bureau, “Median Gross Rent as a Percentage of Household Income in the Past 12 Months.” Accessed January 12, 2021.
United States Census Bureau, “Median Monthly Housing Costs.” Accessed January 12, 2021.

Home affordability in the US’s 100 largest cities and metro areas

Rank	City	Median Home Value	Population	Percentage of homes built in or since 2000	Percentage of occupied homes
1	McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX Metro Area	$87,100	855,176	40%	68%
2	Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL Metro Area	$224,800	737,468	37%	72.3%
3	Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL Metro Area	$150,800	686,218	30%	68.9%
4	Boise City, ID Metro Area	$239,900	710,743	35%	69.7%
5	Baton Rouge, LA Metro Area	$181,700	854,318	29%	69%
6	Greenville-Anderson, SC Metro Area	$163,400	895,942	25%	68.5%
7	Ogden-Clearfield, UT Metro Area	$255,500	662,875	29%	75.8%
8	Columbia, SC Metro Area	$154,400	824,278	28%	67.9%
9	Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL Metro Area	$196,400	585,507	22%	74.3%
10	Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL Metro Area	$184,200	646,288	25%	71.2%
11	Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC Metro Area	$146,100	599,616	25%	67.1%
12	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA Metro Area	$182,400	680,439	27%	69.7%
13	North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL Metro Area	$246,400	803,709	27%	74%
14	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metro Area	$200,000	2,545,560	33%	65.7%
15	Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR Metro Area	$154,600	737,015	28%	64.1%
16	Knoxville, TN Metro Area	$171,300	853,337	22%	68.7%
17	Raleigh-Cary, NC Metro Area	$249,800	1,332,311	39%	65.7%
18	El Paso, TX Metro Area	$121,300	840,477	28%	61.2%
19	Jackson, MS Metro Area	$145,600	597,727	22%	67.3%
20	Birmingham-Hoover, AL Metro Area	$165,200	1,085,330	22%	68.9%
21	Grand Rapids-Kentwood, MI Metro Area	$172,900	1,062,392	17%	72.8%
22	Provo-Orem, UT Metro Area	$303,300	616,791	40%	67.9%
23	Chattanooga, TN-GA Metro Area	$163,100	556,209	21%	67.1%
24	Winston-Salem, NC Metro Area	$152,400	666,216	20%	66.8%
25	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX Metro Area	$171,000	2,468,193	32%	62.6%
26	Charleston-North Charleston, SC Metro Area	$236,700	774,508	33%	66.2%
27	Jacksonville, FL Metro Area	$204,700	1,503,574	31%	64.5%
28	Oklahoma City, OK Metro Area	$157,600	1,382,841	24%	63.8%
29	Tulsa, OK Metro Area	$150,500	990,544	21%	64.8%
30	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN Metro Area	$240,800	1,871,903	30%	65.6%
31	Albuquerque, NM Metro Area	$192,800	912,108	22%	67%
32	Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN Metro Area	$163,100	2,029,472	22%	65.2%
33	Greensboro-High Point, NC Metro Area	$149,200	762,063	21%	62.6%
34	Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX Metro Area	$193,900	6,884,138	34%	60.4%
35	Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metro Area	$169,500	1,257,088	18%	67.1%
36	Wichita, KS Metro Area	$139,000	637,690	17%	65%
37	Tucson, AZ Metro Area	$184,100	1,027,207	23%	63.2%
38	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ Metro Area	$250,000	4,761,603	32%	63.4%
39	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA Metro Area	$217,000	5,862,424	31%	63.3%
40	St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area	$172,700	2,805,190	15%	68.9%
41	Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA Metro Area	$171,000	931,779	21%	65.5%
42	Pittsburgh, PA Metro Area	$154,000	2,331,447	9%	69.6%
43	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL Metro Area	$221,600	2,508,970	33%	60.9%
44	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC Metro Area	$226,100	626,695	29%	61.7%
45	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metro Area	$168,900	2,201,741	16%	66.4%
46	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL Metro Area	$193,500	3,097,859	22%	64.9%
47	Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA Metro Area	$183,400	571,013	15%	67.6%
48	Akron, OH Metro Area	$150,000	703,845	12%	66.6%
49	Kansas City, MO-KS Metro Area	$183,300	2,124,518	19%	65.1%
50	Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA Metro Area	$139,400	555,642	8%	67%
51	Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX Metro Area	$281,500	2,114,441	42%	58.2%
52	Syracuse, NY Metro Area	$137,200	652,416	9%	67.6%
53	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metro Area	$170,000	4,317,848	11%	69%
54	Toledo, OH Metro Area	$130,900	644,137	11%	63.3%
55	Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metro Area	$152,200	1,339,623	20%	59.8%
56	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro Area	$215,700	7,320,663	30%	59.5%
57	Rochester, NY Metro Area	$144,400	1,072,877	10%	67.1%
58	Columbus, OH Metro Area	$184,800	2,077,761	20%	61.5%
59	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro Area	$257,000	3,573,609	19%	70%
60	Dayton-Kettering, OH Metro Area	$135,000	803,543	10%	63.2%
61	Salt Lake City, UT Metro Area	$298,600	1,201,043	24%	67.8%
62	Cleveland-Elyria, OH Metro Area	$151,600	2,056,898	9%	64.9%
63	Richmond, VA Metro Area	$237,500	1,269,530	21%	65.6%
64	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY Metro Area	$148,500	1,130,175	7%	65.7%
65	Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV Metro Area	$262,700	2,182,004	37%	53.8%
66	Colorado Springs, CO Metro Area	$275,700	723,498	26%	64.7%
67	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metro Area	$213,800	837,610	15%	68.8%
68	New Orleans-Metairie, LA Metro Area	$197,800	1,267,777	16%	62.3%
69	Bakersfield, CA Metro Area	$213,900	887,641	22%	58.3%
70	Madison, WI Metro Area	$248,400	653,725	23%	61.1%
71	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY Metro Area	$213,600	880,736	13%	63.9%
72	Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC Metro Area	$245,100	1,761,729	19%	61.7%
73	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metro Area	$239,600	9,508,605	14%	64.5%
74	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro Area	$250,700	6,079,130	11%	67.3%
75	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI Metro Area	$213,900	1,575,223	11%	60.1%
76	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA Metro Area	$341,300	4,560,470	25%	63.3%
77	Worcester, MA-CT Metro Area	$269,600	941,338	11%	65.6%
78	Springfield, MA Metro Area	$228,100	699,480	7%	63.2%
79	Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY Metro Area	$276,500	673,839	14%	67.7%
80	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metro Area	$298,500	2,796,733	14%	66.5%
81	Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, CT Metro Area	$249,200	1,207,677	9%	66.3%
82	Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Metro Area	$380,900	2,892,066	24%	63.9%
83	Fresno, CA Metro Area	$255,000	984,521	20%	53.3%
84	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area	$368,800	2,445,761	21%	62.4%
85	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL Metro Area	$280,400	6,090,660	17%	59.3%
86	Stockton, CA Metro Area	$342,100	742,603	23%	56.6%
87	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metro Area	$276,900	1,618,268	8%	61.4%
88	New Haven-Milford, CT Metro Area	$248,600	857,513	7%	61.8%
89	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA Metro Area	$387,500	2,315,980	21%	60.3%
90	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro Area	$436,100	3,871,323	23%	60.1%
91	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area	$424,000	6,196,585	21%	63.6%
92	Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT Metro Area	$428,500	943,926	11%	67.1%
93	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro Area	$437,500	4,832,346	12%	61.7%
94	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA Metro Area	$588,400	847,263	13%	63.2%
95	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA Metro Area	$450,900	19,294,236	10%	51.3%
96	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA Metro Area	$563,700	3,316,073	16%	53.3%
97	Urban Honolulu, HI Metro Area	$678,200	984,821	15%	56.2%
98	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro Area	$613,400	13,249,614	9%	48.6%
99	San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA Metro Area	$840,600	4,701,332	11%	54.7%
100	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA Metro Area	$968,800	1,987,846	15%	56.6%

Written by

Joe Roberts

Joe Roberts is a professional writer with a degree in writing studies and over four years of copywriting experience. He previously worked at Overstock.com, where he wrote about furniture, home decor, and moving. Joe has moved all over Utah, so he knows his way around a moving truck—and he spends his time (and money) expanding his personal library so it will be even heavier next time he moves.