With a historic low of 24% of home purchases last year made by first-time buyers, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on the Best & Worst Cities for First-Time Home Buyers in 2025, as well as expert commentary.
To determine the most favorable housing markets for first-time buyers, WalletHub took the pulse of real estate in 300 cities of varying sizes using 22 key metrics. The data set ranges from housing affordability to real-estate tax rate to property-crime rate.
| Best Cities for First-Time Home Buyers | Worst Cities for First-Time Home Buyers | |
| 1. Palm Bay, FL 2. Boise, ID 3. Tampa, FL 4. Surprise, AZ 5. Huntsville, AL 6. Gilbert, AZ 7. Cape Coral, FL 8. Orlando, FL 9. Lakeland, FL 10. Sunrise, FL |
291. San Mateo, CA 292. New Orleans, LA 293. Anchorage, AK 294. Costa Mesa, CA 295. Los Angeles, CA 296. Santa Barbara, CA 297. San Francisco, CA 298. Oakland, CA 299. Santa Monica, CA 300. Berkeley, CA |
Best vs. Worst
- Flint, Michigan, has the most affordable housing (median house price divided by median annual household income), which is 9.7 times cheaper than in Santa Barbara, California, the city with the least affordable housing.
- Honolulu has the lowest real-estate tax rate, which is 10 times lower than in Paterson, New Jersey, the city with the highest.
- Flint, Michigan, has the highest rent-to-price ratio, which is 14 times higher than in Santa Monica, California, the city with the lowest.
- Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has the lowest total home-energy cost per month, which is 4.8 times lower than in Honolulu, the city with the highest.
To view the full report and your city’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/best-and-worst-cities-for-first-time-home-buyers/5564