RANKING

Best American Cities to Buy a House, from Minneapolis to Fargo (Photos)

The Daily Beast crunches the numbers to find the 25 best cities in America to buy a house, from Fargo, N.D., to Des Moines, Iowa, to Oklahoma City.

By The Daily BeastJul 23, 2012

galleries/2012/07/23/best-american-cities-to-buy-a-house-from-minneapolis-to-fargo-photos/best-cities-to-purchase-in-tease_gbee0t — Home prices in cities around the country are slowly showing signs of recovery. As the real-estate market bounces back, The Daily Beast decided to figure out which locales offer potential buyers reasonably priced homes in economically viable communities.

To find the best cities to buy a house, we considered four categories, weighted equally, for 150 cities, with data from the National Association of Realtors and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. First, we looked at the median home price in each city for the first quarter of 2012. Then, because a good deal isn’t a steal if there’s no way to keep up with mortgage payments, we took into account the year-on-year job-growth rate, overall unemployment rate, and ratio of home prices to income.

Read on to check out the 25 most promising cities to start over in a new home.

galleries/2012/07/23/best-american-cities-to-buy-a-house-from-minneapolis-to-fargo-photos/best-cities-for-house-purchase-25-minneapolis-mn_me1aps — Median home price: $147,300
Job growth rate: 0.9%
Unemployment rate: 5.2%
Home price to income ratio: 1.2
Karen Bleier / Getty Images

galleries/2012/07/23/best-american-cities-to-buy-a-house-from-minneapolis-to-fargo-photos/best-cities-for-house-purchase-24-dayton-oh_sh0asc — Median home price: $86,600
Job growth rate: 0.9%
Unemployment rate: 7.3%
Home price to income ratio: 0.9
Chris Hondros / Getty Images

galleries/2012/07/23/best-american-cities-to-buy-a-house-from-minneapolis-to-fargo-photos/best-cities-for-house-purchase-23-grand-rapids-mi_zha4t9 — Median home price: $96,500
Job growth rate: 1.8%
Unemployment rate: 6.6%
Home price to income ratio: 1.1
Getty Images

galleries/2012/07/23/best-american-cities-to-buy-a-house-from-minneapolis-to-fargo-photos/best-cities-for-house-purchase-22-davenport-ia_nwyifn — Median home price: $99,700
Job growth rate: -1.2%
Unemployment rate: 6.7%
Home price to income ratio: 0.9

galleries/2012/07/23/best-american-cities-to-buy-a-house-from-minneapolis-to-fargo-photos/best-cities-for-house-purchase-21-columbus-oh_x4qt0f — Median home price: $117,500
Job growth rate: 1.8%
Unemployment rate: 6.1%
Home price to income ratio: 1.1
Joe Sohm / Getty Images

galleries/2012/07/23/best-american-cities-to-buy-a-house-from-minneapolis-to-fargo-photos/best-cities-for-house-purchase-20-decatur-il_iaak7l — Median home price: $86,100
Job growth rate: 2.1%
Unemployment rate: 7.5%
Home price to income ratio: 0.8
Seth Perlman / AP Photo

galleries/2012/07/23/best-american-cities-to-buy-a-house-from-minneapolis-to-fargo-photos/best-cities-for-house-purchase-19-springfield-mo_xbnhny — Median home price: $99,300
Job growth rate: 2.2%
Unemployment rate: 6.3%
Home price to income ratio: 1.1

galleries/2012/07/23/best-american-cities-to-buy-a-house-from-minneapolis-to-fargo-photos/best-cities-for-house-purchase-18-cumberland-md_ssphlr — Median home price: $84,900
Job growth rate: 7.0%
Unemployment rate: 7.6%
Home price to income ratio: 1

galleries/2012/07/23/best-american-cities-to-buy-a-house-from-minneapolis-to-fargo-photos/best-cities-for-house-purchase-17-columbia-mo_kgturv — Median home price: $144,900
Job growth rate: 6.1%
Unemployment rate: 4.7%
Home price to income ratio: 1.5

galleries/2012/07/23/best-american-cities-to-buy-a-house-from-minneapolis-to-fargo-photos/best-cities-for-house-purchase-16-oklahoma-city_k6sejo — Median home price: $140,500
Job growth rate: 2.3%
Unemployment rate: 4.5%
Home price to income ratio: 1.4
Sue Ogrocki / AP Photo

galleries/2012/07/23/best-american-cities-to-buy-a-house-from-minneapolis-to-fargo-photos/best-cities-for-house-purchase-15-des-moines_p1u0ak — Median home price: $137,300
Job growth rate: 1.1%
Unemployment rate: 5.0%
Home price to income ratio: 1.2
Rodney White / AP Photo

galleries/2012/07/23/best-american-cities-to-buy-a-house-from-minneapolis-to-fargo-photos/best-cities-for-house-purchase-14-topeka-kansas_krnuop — Median home price: $94,700
Job growth rate: -1.6%
Unemployment rate: 6.3%
Home price to income ratio: 0.9
Dennis MacDonald / Getty Images

galleries/2012/07/23/best-american-cities-to-buy-a-house-from-minneapolis-to-fargo-photos/best-cities-for-house-purchase-13-appleton-wi_xqjc6y — Median home price: $107,700
Job growth rate: 1.1%
Unemployment rate: 6.1%
Home price to income ratio: 1

galleries/2012/07/23/best-american-cities-to-buy-a-house-from-minneapolis-to-fargo-photos/best-cities-for-house-purchase-12-amarillo-tx_bcqynw — Median home price: $126,600
Job growth rate: 2.6%
Unemployment rate: 4.8%
Home price to income ratio: 1.3

galleries/2012/07/23/best-american-cities-to-buy-a-house-from-minneapolis-to-fargo-photos/best-cities-for-house-purchase-11-tulsa-ok_fqv7t1 — Median home price: $124,000
Job growth rate: 4.0%
Unemployment rate: 5.3%
Home price to income ratio: 1.2
Alan Copson / Getty Images

galleries/2012/07/23/best-american-cities-to-buy-a-house-from-minneapolis-to-fargo-photos/best-cities-for-house-purchase-10-cleveland-oh_ia4jsh — Median home price: $84,900
Job growth rate: 0.0%
Unemployment rate: 6.7%
Home price to income ratio: 0.8
Mark Duncan / AP Photo

galleries/2012/07/23/best-american-cities-to-buy-a-house-from-minneapolis-to-fargo-photos/best-cities-for-house-purchase-9-toledo-oh_c94ooq — Median home price: $63,400
Job growth rate: 2.1%
Unemployment rate: 7.6%
Home price to income ratio: 0.7
Jeff Friedman / Getty Images

galleries/2012/07/23/best-american-cities-to-buy-a-house-from-minneapolis-to-fargo-photos/best-cities-for-house-purchase-8-akron-oh_meixrl — Median home price: $81,600
Job growth rate: 0.1%
Unemployment rate: 6.6%
Home price to income ratio: 0.8
Henryk Sadura / Getty Images

galleries/2012/07/23/best-american-cities-to-buy-a-house-from-minneapolis-to-fargo-photos/best-cities-for-house-purchase-7-omaha-ne_l8xtqk — Median home price: $122,100
Job growth rate: 0.3%
Unemployment rate: 4.2%
Home price to income ratio: 1.3
John Coletti / Getty Images

galleries/2012/07/23/best-american-cities-to-buy-a-house-from-minneapolis-to-fargo-photos/best-cities-for-house-purchase-6-sioux-falls-nd_tgteh1 — Median home price: $142,200
Job growth rate: 1.6%
Unemployment rate: 3.8%
Home price to income ratio: 1.3

galleries/2012/07/23/best-american-cities-to-buy-a-house-from-minneapolis-to-fargo-photos/best-cities-for-house-purchase-5-bismark-nd_vx72et — Median home price: $179,300
Job growth rate: 5.8%
Unemployment rate: 2.5%
Home price to income ratio: 1.6
Dale Wetzel / AP Photo

galleries/2012/07/23/best-american-cities-to-buy-a-house-from-minneapolis-to-fargo-photos/best-cities-for-house-purchase-4-lansing-mi_djqtgq — Median home price: $65,500
Job growth rate: 1.0%
Unemployment rate: 6.8%
Home price to income ratio: 0.7
Al Goldis / AP Photo

galleries/2012/07/23/best-american-cities-to-buy-a-house-from-minneapolis-to-fargo-photos/best-cities-for-house-purchase-3-lincoln-ne_l58y4v — Median home price: $131,000
Job growth rate: 1.5%
Unemployment rate: 3.4%
Home price to income ratio: 1.3

galleries/2012/07/23/best-american-cities-to-buy-a-house-from-minneapolis-to-fargo-photos/best-cities-for-house-purchase-2-waterloo-ia_giqwxw — Median home price: $103,700
Job growth rate: 2.0%
Unemployment rate: 4.7%
Home price to income ratio: 1

galleries/2012/07/23/best-american-cities-to-buy-a-house-from-minneapolis-to-fargo-photos/best-cities-for-house-purchase-1-fargo-nd-update_qoumgt — Median home price: $143,900
Job growth rate: 4.6%
Unemployment rate: 3.0%
Home price to income ratio: 1.3
Richard Cummins / Getty Images

TRENDING NOW