Posted on 05/30/2025 7:32:50 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
WalletHub analyzed 300 U.S. cities of varying sizes across ten metrics, including real estate tax rate, cost per square foot, median home price, and median household income. Each metric was scored on a 100-point scale, with 100 indicating the most favorable conditions for home affordability. For this map, only cities with a population over 100,000 were considered.
This map, via Visual Capitalist's Bruno Venditti, shows the 20 most affordable U.S. cities to buy a home in 2025, according to data from WalletHub.
Detroit leads the list, with a median price per square foot of around $87. The city has faced significant challenges over the decades, including financial crises and the decline of the auto industry, prompting many residents to leave.
Today, more than 22% of homes in Detroit are vacant, creating a strong buyer’s market. According to WalletHub, Detroit is also one of the top cities where buying a home offers greater long-term value than renting. The city was also considered the most affordable large American city in 2025, according to another study.
Also in the Rust Belt, Pittsburgh, PA, ranks as the second-most affordable city for homebuyers, with a median home price approximately 3.8 times higher than the median household income.
Like Detroit, Memphis, TN—ranked third—has also been highlighted as one of the most affordable large cities in the country for working families.
If you enjoyed this map, check out this map on Voronoi about the income needed to buy a home in every U.S. state.
“Rust belt” is a perjorative term thought up by coastal elites.
No cities are on the list from the Sodomy Belt. That’s my answer to anyone who dares use the term Rust Belt.
Detroit..... who’d thunked it. Some parts resemble blast zones no doubt due to offshoring moons ago.
Detroit tops the list.
Go figure.
I heard you can find a cheap home in Kabul also.
Detroit — Its cheap for a reason.
I would not encourage anyone but an enemy to move to that list of cities.
“in a safe neighborhood“
I live in Memphis that is on this list. I’m in one of the “safe” neighborhoods. McMansion type neighborhood.
If I go out walking at night I hear automatic gunfire.Not semiautomatic, I know the difference.
I realize people here won’t believe me but it’s true.
Wow- all those places are shitholes. Good to know.
Hate to admit it but that’s true. More blacks equal more problems. There’s no getting around this obvious fact.
I was going to say they are leaving out that these affordable homes are democrat run Sh@tholes
Good Lord! Are they freakin kidding?! All blue and extremely high crime cities?! You’d be dead within 24 hours of settling in
We are retired and looking to buy a smaller home next year. We are about 60 miles east of Pittsburgh. I notice that the closer you get to Pittsburgh, the lower the prices The homes farther away, such as in Greensburg or Latrobe in Westmoreland county, cost more but are snapped up quickly. Moving to Pittsburgh is a hard NO!
What a craptastic list of cities. There is a logical reason homes are affordable. Poor demand.
Yep. Like Gaza, but without the nice weather.
LOL
By using cities with 100K plus population - they slanted it toward Blue cities...
Besides astronomical property taxes, most of the cities on the list are democrat run inner city shitholes (e.g., Baltimore, Detroit). Another reason why they are so affordable.
Affordability does not translate into desirability. In fact, there is an inverse relationship, as the affordable index goes up, the desirable index drops, sometimes precipitously.
The other thing is desirable affordable homes tend to get scooped up by institutional investors who turn them into rental properties.
Just check which city has the highest crime rates and is run by Democrats for low cost living, completed with free muggings, break-ins, rapes, robberies, etc.
Great if you want to live in a war zone. Home prices can be deceiving. I can buy a house in St. Louis city for $2,000. But it’s in. A nest of red board homes and shootings every night.
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