Valley takes 4 of top 10 spots in ranking of best US cities for 1st-time homebuyers

Four Valley communities were ranked in the top 10 best cities in the United States for first-time homebuyers, according to a study released Tuesday.

WalletHub’s “Best & Worst Cities for First-Time Homebuyers (2026)” rated 300 varying-sized cities using three key aspects: affordability, real-estate market and quality of life.

Surprise ranked the highest of the four communities, coming in second place. It was immediately followed by Gilbert in third, then Peoria in sixth and Chandler in eighth.

There were other Arizona cities scattered throughout the list. They included:

• Yuma in fifth
• Scottsdale in 14th
• Mesa in 16th
• Phoenix in 47th
• Glendale in 48th
• Tempe in 63rd

It was determined that the worst city for first-time homebuyers in the Grand Canyon State was Tucson, which came in 69th.

Breaking down Arizona’s best cities for first-time homebuyers

The three categories that WalletHub used to compare cities included 22 different metrics, all adding up to a total score of 100.

Those measures looked at things like housing affordability, cost of living, real-estate tax rate, active listings per capita, building-permit activity, real estate agents per capita, homeownership rate for millennials, job market, violent crime and property crime rates.

Surprise had an overall score of 65.5, ranked eighth in affordability, second in real-estate market and 190th in quality of life. It was highlighted as having a high number of new building permits and real estate agents per capita as well as ranking 11th for the highest active home listings per capita. Additionally, the city had the 10th-lowest violent crime and fifth-lowest property crime rates.

Meanwhile, Gilbert scored 62.62, came in 22nd for affordability, 20th for real-estate market and 92nd for quality of life. The study spotlighted the town as having the seventh-lowest real estate tax and 18th-highest millennial homeownership rates. Gilbert also had low crime rates, ranking 10th-lowest in property and 15th-lowest in violent.

Here is a break down of how the other Arizona cities on the list scored:

• Yuma: 61.85 points
• Peoria: 61.41 points
• Chandler: 61.33 points
• Scottsdale: 60.31 points
• Mesa: 59.79 points
• Phoenix: 56.59 points
• Glendale: 56.56 points
• Tempe: 55.24 points
• Tucson: 55.03 points

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