Top 7 Prosperous, Yet Affordable, U.S. Cities

Related: 12 Most Dynamic Metro Areas in the U.S.: 2023

American workers thrive in areas that combine rapid growth, well-paid jobs and affordable homes, an especially important consideration for first-time homebuyers. The Milken Institute recently published a list of the best-performing U.S. cities, based on economic performance indicators, such as job growth, wage growth and high-tech job concentration, and opportunity indicators, like broadband access and housing affordability. Tech hubs like Austin, Texas; San Jose, California; and Seattle ranked in the top tier for economic performance, but their sky-high housing costs put homeownership out of reach for the average earner. To find locales that offer both economic vitality and affordability, Clever Real Estate, an education platform for homebuyers, sellers and investors, searched the 400 cities in the Milken Institute rankings for lesser-known cities that meet these criteria. Researchers identified seven large cities that scored within the top 50 for overall economic performance and also ranked in the top 100 for housing affordability within their size category. Best-Performing Cities Rankings came from the Milken Institute. Typical home price data, as of August 2022, came from the Zillow Home Value Index, and average annual salary information came from ZipRecruiter's March 23 report. See the gallery for the top seven prosperous, yet affordable, U.S. cities, according to Clever. (Image: Shutterstock)