Mortgage interest rates are hitting record lows, but many Americans struggling financially due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2020's Best & Worst Cities for First-Time Home Buyers.

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 26 key metrics. The data set ranges from housing affordability to real-estate tax rate to property-crime rate.

Thornton, Arvada, Centennial, Greeley, Longmont, Westminster and Pueblo all made the top 30 list.

You can see the map below.

Best Cities for First-Time Home BuyersWorst Cities for First-Time Home Buyers
1. Henderson, NV219. San Mateo, CA
2. Boise, ID292. Miami Beach, FL
3. Thornton, CO293. Daly City, CA
4. Chesapeake, VA294. Los Angeles, CA
5. Gilbert, AZ295. Oakland, CA
6. Tampa, FL296. New York, NY
7. Las Vegas, NV297. Detroit, MI
8. North Las Vegas, NV298. Santa Barbara, CA
9. Peoria, AZ299. San Francisco, CA
10. Lincoln, NE300. Berkeley, CA

Best vs. Worst

  • Akron, Ohio, has the most affordable housing (median house price divided by median annual household income), with a ratio of 1.90, which is 7.8 times cheaper than in Berkeley, California, the city with the least affordable housing, with a ratio of 14.82.
  • Honolulu has the lowest real-estate tax rate, 0.29 percent, which is 13.1 times lower than in Waterbury, Connecticut, the city with the highest at 3.79 percent.
  • Rochester, New York, has the highest rent-to-price ratio, 15.88 percent, which is 4.7 times higher than in Sunnyvale, California, the city with the lowest at 3.38 percent.
  • Westminster, Colorado, has the lowest total home-energy cost per month, $99.29, which is 3.9 times lower than in Honolulu, the city with the highest at $388.18.

You can find the full list of Colorado cities click here.

Source: WalletHub

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