Best & Worst Cities for First-Time Home Buyers

Buying a home for the first time is an exciting and important milestone for many Americans. Their purchases make up a sizable chunk of the market, too. In 2024, a historic low of 24% of home purchases were made by first-time buyers, down from 32% the previous year. 

For people willing and able to invest in a house this year, the search for a first home requires careful consideration of a number of factors. Buyers must balance what they want and need with what they can afford. Often, people begin searching for their dream homes without a realistic idea of market prices, interest rates or even their eligibility to get a mortgage. 

Where a home is located is just as important as what features it has. If the neighborhood is unpleasant, it can sour the experience of a great home. Potential buyers may want to narrow their search down to an area with a good reputation before getting into housing details. 

“Buying a home for the first time is a very stressful and difficult process, especially when housing prices are through the roof and interest rates have risen sharply in the past few years. The best cities for first-time home buyers not only are affordable both in terms of buying a house and living there afterward, but they also have a lot of housing choices as well as low crime rates and good schools.” Chip Lupo, WalletHub Analyst

To simplify the process, WalletHub compared 300 cities of varying sizes across 22 key indicators of market attractiveness, affordability and quality of life. Our data set ranges from cost of living to real-estate taxes to property-crime rate. California rounds out the bottom 30 places for new home buyers. They lose the top 2 slots to Boulder, Colorado and Jackson, Mississippi. Interesting, two of the best cities for new home buyers are in Florida (Palm Bay and Tampa) and the other one is in an unexpected location: Boise, Idaho.

In-Depth Look at the Best Cities for First-Time Home Buyers

Palm Bay, FL

Palm Bay, FL, is the best city for first-time home buyers. It’s among the leading cities in the country when it comes to active home listings per capita and new building permits per capita, so there are plenty of older and brand-new homes to choose from. In addition, while it’s a stereotype that millennials struggle to buy homes, Palm Bay has the fifth-highest millennial home-ownership rate.

Palm Bay residents can also look forward to their homes growing in value, as the city has the third-highest home appreciation rate in the country. Homes in the city were worth 108% more in 2023 than they were in 2017. 

It’s also worth noting that Palm Bay has a pretty decent school system, too, for those who have or want children.

Palm Bay also isn’t the only Florida city that’s great for first-time home buyers – six of the top 10 cities are in Florida, including two of the top three.

Boise, ID

Boise, ID, is the second-best city for first-time home buyers, boasting a high number of new building permits per capita and the seventh-lowest foreclosure rates in our study. It also has a high number of real estate agents per capita, which helps ensure that people are able to find good houses for their needs and makes the process go more smoothly. 

In addition, Boise is a good place to live because it has a relatively low crime rate. It has the 64th-lowest violent crime rate and 27th-lowest property crime rate in the country out of the 300 cities in this study. 

To top things off, Boise has the highest home price appreciation rate in the country, with values growing by roughly 121% between 2017 and 2023.

Tampa, FL

Tampa, FL, is the third-best city for first-time home buyers, and like the other top cities, it stands out for having a large number of new building permits and active home listings per capita. Tampa also has the 13th-most real estate agents per capita, highlighting the city’s highly competitive and active housing market.

In addition, Tampa has a pretty strong job market, making it an attractive place for career growth,  and when it comes to education, the city has the 10th-best school system, offering families strong academic opportunities.