Insurify’s 2021 Best Cities for New Homebuyers Awards

Click here to see the Best Cities for New Homebuyers report for 2022.

If you’re in the market to buy a house, these cities may just be exactly what you’re looking for.

Buying a house is an aspiration for many Americans. While the performance of many real estate markets across the nation fluctuated throughout 2020 due to the economic devastation of COVID-19, not all have been in decline. Insurify’s report on cities with the greatest pandemic real estate booms found that between April and July 2020, monthly home sales were up at about 15%, indicating that healthy demand for real estate persists.

Anyone who’s been in the market for a new home-sweet-home knows that it’s not just the house itself that factors into the decision of where to settle down. Rather, the surrounding community and the resources it offers play an equally significant role. Potential buyers want to strike where the iron is hot and find that perfect balance between an affordable price and a community with good schools, safe roads, and economic opportunities. Insurify’s 2021 Best Cities for New Homebuyers Award recognizes the communities that not only have real estate on the rise, but also a strong commitment to supporting their residents’ livelihoods.

Selection Process for Insurify’s 2021 Best Cities for New Homebuyers

The data scientists at Insurify, a home insurance comparison site, analyzed both proprietary and public data to identify the best cities for new homeowners. They rated U.S. cities based on a composite score of factors including real estate demand, employment levels, public school enrollment, and driver and pedestrian safety.

Insurify’s research team turned to Realtor.com for statistics on real estate popularity and home value growth across U.S. cities. Cities with hotter real estate markets and positively trending home values received a higher score. Public school enrollment statistics and the unemployment rate in each city, provided by the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent American Community Survey, were the defining variables in education and employment levels, respectively. A higher score was assigned to cities with higher public school enrollment and low unemployment rates.

Researchers at Insurify also referred to their database of over 2.9 million car insurance applications to calculate citywide measures of driver and pedestrian safety. Cities were evaluated for rates of at-fault accidents, DUIs, speeding tickets, and failure to yield to pedestrian violations.  The safer a city’s road patterns, or the lower the citywide rates of these four violations, the higher a score they received.

Winners of Insurify’s 2021 Best Cities for New Homebuyers Awards

Alabama: Decatur

Alaska: Anchorage

Arizona: Yuma

Arkansas: North Little Rock

California: Fresno

Colorado: Colorado Springs

Connecticut: New Haven

Delaware: Dover

Florida: Pensacola

Georgia: Warner Robins

Hawaii: Honolulu

Idaho: Boise

Illinois: Rockford

Indiana: Fort Wayne

Iowa: Waterloo

Kansas: Topeka

Kentucky: Elizabethtown

Louisiana: New Orleans

Maryland: Baltimore

Massachusetts: Springfield

Michigan: Monroe

Minnesota: Rochester

Mississippi: Jackson

Missouri: Jefferson City

Montana: Billings

Nebraska: Lincoln

Nevada: Reno

New Hampshire: Nashua

New Jersey: Hammonton

New Mexico: Albuquerque

New York: Rochester

North Carolina: Burlington

North Dakota: Bismarck

Ohio: Columbus

Oklahoma: Oklahoma City

Oregon: Salem

Pennsylvania: East Stroudsburg

South Carolina: Columbia

South Dakota: Rapid City

Tennessee: Johnson City

Texas: Temple

Utah: Ogden

Virginia: Richmond

Washington: Spokane

West Virginia: Charleston

Wisconsin: Racine

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