Want to own a home? You may want to ditch the big city. We consulted our data to find the US cities where the highest percentage of Credit Karma members had mortgages, and small cities dominated. Of the top 15 cities, none had more than 250,000 residents, and all but three had less than 200,000.
Frisco, Texas—home to a little under 137,000 residents—claims the top spot, with 35 percent of Credit Karma members with mortgages. For comparison, in major cities like San Francisco and Boston, only 11 and 10 percent of Credit Karma members have a mortgage, respectively. That rate is even lower in Los Angeles, which stands at 9 percent.
At least among the cities on our list, high rates of homeownership can serve as a strong indicator of financial prosperity. All 15 cities have median household incomes higher than the U.S. average, with some—like Frisco and Naperville, Illinois—having incomes more than twice the national figure.
Check out our full list of cities where Credit Karma members have the highest amount of mortgages:
15 US Cities With the Highest Amount of Mortgages
- Frisco, TX, 35%
- Gilbert, AZ 31%
- Olathe, KS, 31%
- McKinney, TX, 30%
- Surprise, AZ, 29%
- Santa Clarita, CA, 28%
- Round Rock, TX, 28%
- West Jordan, UT, 28%
- Peoria, AZ, 28%
- Cary, NC, 27%
- Chesapeake, VA, 27%
- Naperville, IL, 27%
- Rochester, MN, 26%
- Elk Grove, CA, 26%
- Arvada, CO, 26%
* Based on all Credit Karma members who pulled their credit profile data from July 2014 through June 2015 and live in a city with a population greater than 100,000.