Real Estate

America's Best Bang-For-The-Buck Cities

Forbes

http://www.forbes.com

Solid housing markets, relatively stable employment, enviable cost of living and quick commutes make these metros among the Country's most affordable to live.

Bang- for-the Buck Rank	Metropolitan Statistical Area	Housing Affordability Rank		Travel Time Rank		Real Estate Taxes Rank	Unemployment Rank	Vacancies Rank	Job Forecast Rank	Home Price Forecast Rank	Foreclosures Rank
1	Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA Metro Area	21	37		68		1	16	8	19	3
2	Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR Metro Area	40	27		8		4	17	11	29	42
3	Jackson, MS Metro Area	48	6		4		14	14	72	16	9
4	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA Metro Area	31	11		60		6	4	9	57	13
5	Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC Metro Area	24	2		5		56	30	16	42	19
6	Wichita, KS Metro Area	22	7		27		42	7	48	45	6
7	McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX Metro Area	19	5		18		82	43	1	27	25
8	Chattanooga, TN-GA Metro Area	37	9		12		50	19	41	33	26
9	Colorado Springs, CO Metro Area	64	23		11		18	27	14	11	64
10	Ogden-Clearfield, UT Metro Area	30	14		21		8	2	68	64	35
11	Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA Metro Area	26	3		38		46	28	84	23	2
12	Columbia, SC Metro Area	38	34		6		56	39	29	28	24
13	Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA Metro Area	25	13		56		23	5	65	62	7
14	Provo-Orem, UT Metro Area	51	1		20		2	1	30	91	66
15	Syracuse, NY Metro Area	18	21		74		31	23	75	20	1
16	Baton Rouge, LA Metro Area	63	40		1		14	33	42	61	11
17	Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY Metro Area	9	49		76		38	53	31	32	5
18	Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL Metro Area	7	10		34		78	52	23	15	77
19	Tulsa, OK Metro Area	33	39		14		13	45	80	39	41
20	Greenville-Mauldin-Easley, SC Metro Area	46	20		7		70	35	26	52	57
21	Raleigh-Cary, NC Metro Area	74	55		35		42	42	10	41	22
22	Pittsburgh, PA Metro Area	17	79		54		24	84	44	6	14
22	Knoxville, TN Metro Area	62	25		10		42	21	69	73	20
24	Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN Metro Area	35	58		17		66	58	21	35	34
25	Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA Metro Area	3	4		23		89	24	90	55	43
26	Oklahoma City, OK Metro Area	28	53		13		4	61	100	60	18
27	Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville, SC Metro Area	82	30		9		61	50	28	4	74
28	Birmingham-Hoover, AL Metro Area	61	56		3		68	65	7	31	52
29	Rochester, NY Metro Area	10	45		88		30	48	98	13	12
30	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY Metro Area	45	41		85		18	46	62	44	4
30	Greensboro-High Point, NC Metro Area	43	29		16		78	40	59	34	46
32	Toledo, OH Metro Area	4	15		49		78	41	64	25	71
33	El Paso, TX Metro Area	87	24		53		63	8	6	63	51
34	Albuquerque, NM Metro Area	79	38		22		28	37	3	79	70
35	Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metro Area	27	59		26		64	66	43	5	72
36	Portland-South Portland-Biddeford, ME Metro Area	77	19		71		11	44	91	40	10
37	Akron, OH Metro Area	1	32		57		58	22	83	66	50
38	Springfield, MA Metro Area	56	28		72		60	11	77	21	45
39	San Antonio, TX Metro Area	53	73		61		14	67	2	72	30
40	Indianapolis-Carmel, IN Metro Area	12	67		33		26	70	66	37	62
41	Boise City-Nampa, ID Metro Area	71	12		25		58	6	25	88	90
42	Madison, WI Metro Area	67	22		92		3	10	81	75	29
43	Denver-Aurora, CO Metro Area	78	82		37		14	71	20	17	67
44	St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area	16	83		46		64	83	24	48	27
45	Austin-Round Rock, TX Metro Area	54	68		89		18	57	4	74	28
45	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro Area	36	85		67		21	69	33	26	55
47	New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA Metro Area	59	54		2		21	62	85	78	33
48	Modesto, CA Metro Area	8	8		50		98	38	86	8	99
49	Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI Metro Area	2	35		52		87	34	67	46	76
50	Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL Metro Area	32	18		15		92	56	17	89	81
51	Columbus, OH Metro Area	20	66		63		32	73	39	54	54
52	Kansas City, MO-KS Metro Area	23	72		47		49	68	27	59	59
52	Dayton, OH Metro Area	11	36		45		73	47	55	69	68
54	Honolulu, HI Metro Area	100	52		28		10	36	97	68	17
55	Salt Lake City, UT Metro Area	88	51		29		6	32	50	84	69
56	Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY Metro Area	55	44		98		32	9	79	86	8
56	Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC Metro Area	81	69		32		82	63	18	22	44
58	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN Metro Area	72	64		19		54	54	40	80	31
59	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT Metro Area	60	57		95		35	31	96	18	23
59	Stockton, CA Metro Area	58	31		59		99	12	54	7	95
61	Worcester, MA Metro Area	50	46		78		61	15	58	49	61
62	Tucson, AZ Metro Area	80	48		31		38	49	71	87	16
63	Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC Metro Area	85	65		51		12	59	32	90	32
64	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro Area	34	96		80		35	92	5	53	37
65	Richmond, VA Metro Area	73	60		40		26	55	51	81	48
66	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metro Area	83	47		86		51	13	63	83	15
67	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro Area	93	86		82		51	75	19	2	36
68	Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX Metro Area	44	95		75		40	96	13	43	39
69	Bakersfield, CA Metro Area	66	26		42		93	26	94	10	96
70	Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN Metro Area	14	76		44		53	78	76	56	58
71	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA Metro Area	89	42		83		77	3	52	24	86
72	Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL Metro Area	5	17		58		93	80	15	93	97
73	New Haven-Milford, CT Metro Area	68	43		97		32	18	99	58	53
74	Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH Metro Area	6	74		66		35	81	95	47	65
74	Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA Metro Area	92	78		69		75	60	37	9	49
76	Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT Metro Area	94	50		100		29	20	88	50	40
77	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area	76	97		87		8	88	34	14	73
78	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro Area	57	94		83		46	89	61	30	38
78	Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice, FL Metro Area	70	16		55		91	76	12	96	82
78	Fresno, CA Metro Area	86	33		36		96	29	56	70	92
81	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH Metro Area	91	91		91		46	82	57	12	47
82	Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ Metro Area	29	87		24		42	93	73	97	89
83	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA Metro Area	15	93		39		72	95	92	51	78
84	Jacksonville, FL Metro Area	42	61		30		73	74	87	95	80
85	Baltimore-Towson, MD Metro Area	75	84		64		24	79	74	85	60
86	San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA Metro Area	95	81		77		68	77	60	3	88
87	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL Metro Area	41	80		41		84	90	38	94	83
88	Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI Metro Area	84	62		90		40	51	89	76	63
89	Orlando-Kissimmee, FL Metro Area	52	77		48		81	87	22	100	94
90	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA Metro Area	99	90		94		70	85	49	1	75
91	Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, CA Metro Area	47	75		65		85	72	70	67	93
92	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA Metro Area	97	70		96		85	25	53	71	79
92	Las Vegas-Paradise, NV Metro Area	39	71		43		93	86	46	98	100
94	Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA Metro Area	69	63		81		89	64	82	77	56
95	Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI Metro Area	13	89		73		100	94	93	36	85
96	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA Metro Area	49	88		62		97	91	35	65	98
97	Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI Metro Area	65	98		93		66	98	47	38	84
98	New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA Metro Area	98	100		99		54	100	78	92	21
99	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL Metro Area	90	92		70		75	99	36	99	91
100	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA Metro Area	96	99		79		87	97	45	82	87

Click here to read the full story.

Methodology

To find the cities that offer the most bang for the buck, we looked at the country's 100 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas--geographic entities defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, for use in collecting statistics--across these measures: foreclosures as a percentage of housing units; vacancies; unemployment rates; a three-year job growth forecast; a three-year home price forecast; housing affordability; median real estate taxes; and median travel time to work.

To locate healthy housing markets, we looked at metros where foreclosures had most been flushed out of the market, allowing home values to increase and signaling a potential bottoming out. We also sought areas with low home vacancies, a sign of a stable supply of inventory. We examined the number of October foreclosures as a percentage of total housing units, using data from RealtyTrac, and the number of 2008 vacancies in each metro, using data from the U.S. Census.

To further indicate which markets were standing up best, we looked at cities with low unemployment rates relative to the rest of the country with data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. We ranked September unemployment rates (the most recent available by metro). We then included in our analysis the three-year job growth forecast, from 2009 to 2012, from Moody's Economy.com, and ranked them by metro.

For affordability and convenience, we included the Housing Affordability Index compiled by Moody's for the second quarter of 2009, and the annual median real estate taxes paid and weekly travel time to work in 2008, using United States Census data. Finally, we looked at the markets economists thought would improve most in the near future, using the three-year forecast for the Case-Shiller Home Price Index from 2009 to 2012, created by Moody's. We ranked metros in each of these measures, then averaged these scores to arrive at a final ranking.