Two of the Most Affordable Cities to Buy a House Are in Arizona

For the past couple of years it’s been especially hard to buy a home with prices rising and the competition stiff. According to WalletHub, the median sales price rose from $313,000 in the first quarter of 2019 to $403,200 in the first quarter of 2026. Plus, interest rates are still high: the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate went from 2.65% in January 2021 to 6.37% in May 2026.

With all of those numbers, homeownership or upgrading to a dream home can seem completely out of reach. But, if you’re willing to be flexible with location, it could be attainable. WalletHub recently analyzed 300 U.S. cities across 10 key metrics (like housing affordability, average cost of homeowner’s insurance, cost of living, and real-estate tax rate) to find the most affordable cities to buy a home right now.

So what’s the most affordable city? Flint, Michigan, took the top spot with the lowest cost of living index in the country and the most affordable home prices relative to the residents’ income.

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The West saw some representation with two cities in Arizona making the list: Surprise was number three and Yuma was number four. The experts found that Surprise had the 18th-highest median home price appreciation, the eighth-lowest median real estate tax rate, and the 11th-highest number of quarterly active listings per 1,000 residents, which means there’s a good selection of properties.

But while the West had two cities in the top 10, it also proved itself to be a very expensive place to live—9 out of 10 of the least affordable cities are located in California. Hey, living in paradise doesn’t come cheap, I guess (I say this as an Angeleno).

Take a look at the Most Affordable and Least Affordable lists below:

Most Affordable Cities

• 1. Flint, MI
• 2. Detroit, MI
• 3. Surprise, AZ
• 4. Yuma, AZ
• 5. Akron, OH
• 6. Pittsburgh, PA
• 7. Memphis, TN
• 8. Augusta, GA
• 9. Indianapolis, IN
• 10. Cleveland, OH

Least Affordable Cities

• 291. Westminster, CA
• 292. San Francisco, CA
• 293. New York, NY
• 294. Pasadena, CA
• 295. Los Angeles, CA
• 296. Berkeley, CA
• 297. Glendale, CA
• 298. Costa Mesa, CA
• 299. Santa Monica, CA
• 300. Santa Barbara, CA