These cities have both the real estate markets and lifestyle amenities to satisfy buyers making the leap into first-time home ownership.
Many Americans dream of one day owning a home, and millions of people make that aspiration a reality every year. Over 6 million homes were sold across the country in 2021 alone, and U.S. housing markets are on track to remain hot throughout 2022. A first home is an exciting investment no matter the circumstances, but not all starter homes are created equal. Given the current booming real estate climate, recent economic fluctuations, and the COVID-19 pandemic’s lingering effects on work and everyday life, prospective homeowners have plenty of factors to consider.
Fortunately, some cities are making the choice easier for first-time homebuyers. While every city has something to offer prospective homeowners, ideal locations boast in-demand real estate with steadily increasing home values (indicative of upward-trending community goods and services), low unemployment rates, strong public school engagement, and safe environments for drivers and pedestrians. Curious to see which metropolitan areas across the U.S. provide these amenities, the data scientists at Insurify turned to their database of over 4.6 million insurance applications, as well as data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Realtor.com, to identify the best city for new homebuyers in every state in 2022.
Methodology
The data scientists at Insurify, a site to compare home insurance quotes, analyzed both proprietary and public data to identify the best city for new homebuyers in every state. They rated each metro area using a composite score based on factors including real estate value and demand, employment levels, public school enrollment, and driver and pedestrian safety.
Insurify researchers referred to data from Realtor.com to evaluate real estate demand and home value trends across U.S. metro areas. Cities with hotter home markets and rising real estate prices received a higher score, as homebuyers there are more likely to see the value of their home increase over time. The Insurify data science team used city-level public school enrollment statistics and unemployment rates from the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent American Community Survey and the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s December 2021 unemployment report, respectively. These variables determined each metro area’s educational engagement and employment scores, which were higher for cities with higher public school enrollment and lower unemployment rates.
Researchers at Insurify turned to their database of over 4.6 million car insurance applications to calculate citywide measures of driver and pedestrian safety. Cities were evaluated for rates of at-fault accidents, DUIs, speeding tickets, failure to stop, and failure to yield to pedestrian violations. Cities with lower rates of these infractions received higher safety scores.
This study considered the 288 largest metropolitan areas in the United States. States with insufficient municipal data were excluded from this analysis.
The findings in this article represent statistical trends found in Insurify’s analysis of national real estate data. The findings of this study are not meant to imply the direction nor necessarily the existence of a causal relationship. Rather, this is a presentation of statistical correlations of public interest.
What's the best city for new homebuyers in 2022?
Rapid City, SD, is the best city for new homebuyers this year, earning a perfect 100.0 overall appeal score. Real estate in the city is in high demand, and Rapid City students attend public schools at an above average rate. Plus, its unemployment rate is just 2.4%.
Sources
Data Attribution
The information, statistics, and data visualizations on this page are free to use, we just ask that you attribute any full or partial use to Insurify with a link to this page. Thank you!
If you have any questions or comments about this article or would like to request the data, please contact [email protected].
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