SmartAsset, a financial technology company that provides advice on financial decisions, wanted to curate a list of the best cities for first-time home buying in 2022. To find out this information, they compared 181 of the largest U.S. cities across four categories and 12 total metrics. The four categories of metrics included home market favorability, affordability, livability, and employment.

The city of Bellevue ranked as number one. They described it as the “top place for first-time homebuyers, thanks in large part to its employment and livability scores (third-and 13th-highest, respectively).” Bellevue jumped from number 14 in last year’s rankings to the top spot in just one year.

Bellevue has one of the largest five-year increase in income between 2015 and 2020. The city has one of the lowest unemployment rates in Smartasset’s study. 54.47 was the affordability score out of 100, while the livability score was 83.10/100.

Four cities in the New York metro area ranked among the worst places for first-time homebuyers.

Other cities that ranked in the top 25 for first-time homebuyers include Virginia Beach, Omaha, and Nashville. For a full list of the top 25 cities, visit the article.

Source: Downtown Bellevue Network