Earlier this month, personal finance company WalletHub ranked the 300 best cities in the United States for first-time home-buyers. The study considered home prices, cost of living, home inventory and turnover, local mortgage lenders, crime rates and the quality of schools, among other metrics, to rank the top 300. Each city was then ranked in four categories: overall score, affordability, local real estate market and quality of life.
Very few cities in the overall top 25 were ranked in the top 100 for affordability, but many ranked very high in quality of life and real estate market. Palm Bay, Florida, came in at number one, despite being ranked 118th in affordability. However, the small coastal town placed second and third in the real estate market and quality of life, respectively, which helped push Palm Bay's overall score to 67.24.
So, how did Colorado do?
Colorado Springs, Longmont and Centennial all made the top fifty thanks to decent real estate market rankings, while Denver came in at 148, ranking 263 out of 300 in quality of life and 155th in affordability, with its only saving grace being a 24th-best local real estate market.
Aurora, Fort Collins, Greeley and Westminster all landed on the top half list, as well, but only two places in Colorado cracked the top 25: Arvada and Thornton.
Thornton: Relatively Affordable Place to Settle
With a population of more than 140,000 people, Thornton is the sixth-most populated Colorado city and one of the larger Denver-area jurisdictions, stretching north of Interstate 70. Thornton is surrounded by cities like Northglenn, Commerce City, Westminster and Brighton, and sits in both Adams and Weld counties. It's mostly residential and has the large Thorncreek Golf Course and Denver Premium Outlets strip mall to complement more than 1,200 acres of parks and open space, according to the Colorado Tourism Office.According to WalletHub, Thornton stands out as a good place to buy a first home because of its affordability and quality of life. That was good enough for sixteenth overall for first-time home buying, and a total score of 60.55.
Thornton ranked 23rd on the list for quality of life, the highest-ranked Colorado city in that category. According to WalletHub, the quality of life ranking is based on weather, school systems, driver-friendliness, job market, home energy costs and the rate of property crimes and violent crimes.
However, Thornton ranked 117th in affordability, which is based largely on the median home price but also the cost of living, real estate taxes, the cost of homeowner's insurance and the average cost per square foot of a home.
No city from the Denver area ranked in the top 100 for affordability, but Pueblo ranked 77th in the category. Colorado Springs ranked 104th while Centennial ranked 108th, making them the only Colorado cities to beat Thornton in affordability.
Just northwest of Denver in Jefferson County is Arvada, Colorado's seventh-most populated city with more than 120,000 residents, immediately north of Interstate 70. Like Thornton, Arvada is part of the same cluster of jurisdictions in the northern metro, but it's further west, neighboring Wheat Ridge, Westminster and Denver's Highland neighborhood. The city is known for Olde Town Arvada, a lively downtown center with a blend of historic and modern style, and it stretches into the mountains, towards pristine open space areas like Coal Creek Canyon.
WalletHub ranked Arvada 23rd overall with a score of 59.62. The city's real estate market ranked 29th, which is based on factors like the price of homes compared to the average rent, the median number of days homes are on the market and the number of active home listings per capita.
Although Arvada's real estate market ranked higher than Thornton's, it ranked lower than three Colorado cities in the category: Aurora (twenty), Denver (24) and Longmont (27). But Arvada had better-rated life and affordability rankings. (Denver and Aurora had miserable rankings in those other categories.)
Arvada came in at 128th in affordability, eleven places back from Thornton. That also put Arvada two places back from its neighbor, Westminster, which ranked 126th in affordability.
Arvada ranked fifth among Colorado cities for quality of life, behind Thornton, Fort Collins, Boulder and Longmont.
