Click here to subscribe FREE to Ray Hanania's Columns
Aurora makes list of best places to live
The City of Aurora has been included on a top 30 list of the best cities to live based on the affordability of housing for families, according to a study released this week by HomeUnion, an online real estate investment management firm.
HomeUnion published a list of the 30 best places for families to live based on housing affordability and school quality.
For the second consecutive year, Blue Springs, Mo., a suburb of Kansas City, topped HomeUnion’s list with a median home price of $159,700. Zip codes in Oklahoma City and St. Louis placed second and third, respectively in the rankings.
Aurora was the only city in Illinois included in the annually published ranking by HomeUnion. Click here to visit Aurora’s website.
“For the past two years, we have been tracking metros with the highest housing affordability and best school districts,” explains Steve Hovland, director of research for HomeUnion. “As home prices continue to increase in many coastal markets, particularly in the western U.S., we are seeing the best opportunities for first-time home buyers with families in the center of the country. These areas are also good places for single-family rental (SFR) buyers to invest in housing. In fact, we are particularly bullish on Chicago, Cleveland and Indianapolis for SFR investors, and zip codes from all three of these metro areas earned spots within the top 10.”
Here are the 30 best places for families to live based on housing affordability and school quality:
|
Metro |
State |
Submarket |
Zip Code |
Schools |
Price |
||||
|
Kansas City |
MO |
Blue Springs, Mo. |
64014 |
88.5 |
$159,700 |
||||
|
Oklahoma City |
OK |
Tuttle, Okla. |
73170 |
89.6 |
$165,000 |
||||
|
St. Louis |
MO |
Fenton, Mo. |
63026 |
81.1 |
$167,000 |
||||
|
Palm Beach, Fla. |
FL |
Boca Raton, Fla. |
33496 |
87.9 |
$167,500 |
||||
|
Chicago |
IL |
Aurora, Ill. |
60503 |
81.9 |
$168,000 |
||||
|
Indianapolis |
IN |
Brownsburg, Ind. |
46112 |
86.3 |
$184,100 |
||||
|
Cleveland |
OH |
Broadview Heights, Ohio |
44147 |
87.1 |
$200,000 |
||||
|
Philadelphia |
PA |
Horsham, Pa. |
19044 |
84.2 |
$217,500 |
||||
|
Atlanta |
GA |
Buford, Ga. |
30519 |
86.5 |
$220,000 |
||||
|
Columbus |
OH |
Powell, Ohio |
43065 |
86.1 |
$229,500 |
||||
|
Houston |
TX |
Katy, Texas |
77450 |
81.2 |
$239,500 |
||||
| Pittsburgh, PA | PA |
Cranberry Township, Pa.
Cranberry Township, Pa. |
16066 | 83.9 | $274,000 | ||||
|
Las Vegas |
NV |
Summerlin neighborhood |
89144 |
81.9 |
$295,000 |
||||
|
Jacksonville, Fla. |
FL |
St. John’s, Fla. |
32259 |
81.6 |
$297,000 |
||||
|
San Antonio |
TX |
Cross Mountain, Texas |
78255 |
85.2 |
$317,100 |
||||
|
Sacramento, Calif. |
CA |
Rocklin, Calif. |
95677 |
81.5 |
$330,500 |
||||
|
Charlotte, N.C. |
NC |
Matthews, N.C. |
28104 |
87.7 |
$336,500 |
||||
|
Nashville |
TN |
Thompson’s Station, Tenn. |
37179 |
90.3 |
$372,500 |
||||
|
Austin |
TX |
Williamson, Texas |
78717 |
84.9 |
$375,000 |
||||
|
Denver |
CO |
Centennial, Colo. |
80122 |
83.3 |
$380,000 |
||||
|
Portland, Ore. |
OR |
Lake Oswego, Ore. |
97035 |
87.9 |
$417,500 |
||||
|
Los Angeles |
CA |
Valencia, Calif. |
91355 |
82.3 |
$480,000 |
||||
|
Seattle |
WA |
North Bend, Wash. |
98045 |
83.3 |
$510,000 |
||||
|
San Diego |
CA |
Carmel Mountain Ranch |
92128 |
89.7 |
$515,000 |
||||
|
Washington, D.C. |
MD |
Mt. Airy, MD |
21771 |
82.1 |
$529,500 |
||||
|
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. |
FL |
Weston, Fla. |
33332 |
93.3 |
$567,100 |
||||
|
Orange County |
CA |
University Park |
92612 |
88.6 |
$579,000 |
||||
|
Oakland, Calif. |
CA |
Walnut Creek |
94596 |
94.8 |
$625,000 |
||||
|
San Jose |
CA |
West San Jose |
95130 |
80.5 |
$799,000 |
||||
|
San Francisco |
CA |
San Anselmo, Calif. |
94960 |
86.9 |
$1,035,000 |
|
Sources: HomeUnion Research Services and Maponics |
Methodology for the study: HomeUnion included the most affordable zip code in each metro area where the average school rating was in the 80th percentile or higher. Owner-occupied, single-family homes that sold for more than $30,000 during late 2016 and early 2017 were used to determine the median sales price. Each zip code required at least 30 transactions to be included.
About HomeUnion
HomeUnion is an online real estate investment management firm. Based in Irvine, Calif., it provides all the services needed for individuals to invest remotely in rental properties. The company uses a combination of research and proprietary analytics to incorporate data on over 110 million homes and 200,000 neighborhoods into their database, and then delivers its solutions to an on-the-ground infrastructure that currently serves 11 locations. HomeUnion’s role spans the lifecycle of the investment transaction: identifying sound investments, handling all aspects of acquisition, maximizing income, protecting asset value, and selling the asset when the time comes.
Click here to subscribe FREE to Ray Hanania's Columns
His award winning columns can be found at www.HANANIA.COM Subscribe FREE today
Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
Email Ray Hanania at [email protected].
Follow RayHanania at Twitter
- Leving Court Victory Restored Dad in His Children’s Lives - April 9, 2026
- Ryan Bill Expands Reduced Fee Services for Seniors and Illinoisans with Disabilities - April 9, 2026
- Illegal Alien Facing State Murder Charge Now Charged in Federal Court With Illegally Possessing Firearm in Chicago - April 9, 2026
