City ranks among best in US for affordable home ownership

City ranks among best in US for affordable home ownership

A view of Grand Rapids' skyline from the West Side. Courtesy Experience Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids is one of the best metropolitan areas to own a home without “busting a budget.”

Austin, Texas-based lawn care app LawnStarter Lawn Care ranked Grand Rapids No. 3 in its list of “14 Metro Areas Where Owning a Home Won’t Bust Your Budget.”

Startled by a study from the MacArthur Foundation that found 68 percent of Americans believe it’s more difficult now than in previous generations to find affordable housing, LawnStarter looked to find the best areas for home ownership.

LawnStarter took two statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2015 American Community Survey and looked at the top 100 metro areas in the United States.

The first stat was mortgaged homes with at least 35 percent of household income consumed in monthly home expenses. That national average was 18.1 percent.

Second was percentage of homes with less than 20 percent of household income consumed by the expenses. Nationally, the average was 51.3 percent.

Housing expenses, according to the Census Bureau, include mortgages, second mortgage, home equity loans, property taxes, homeowners insurance, condo fees and utilities.

Grand Rapids

Ranking No. 3 on the list, Grand Rapids had 14.8 percent of mortgaged homes with at least 35 percent of income going toward home-related expenses.

Grand Rapids had 53.5 percent of mortgaged homes with less than 20 percent of household income going toward home-related expenses.

Budget Friendly Metros

  1. Des Moines, Iowa
  2. Indianapolis, Indiana
  3. Grand Rapids
  4. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  5. Buffalo, New York
  6. Akron, Ohio
  7. Little Rock, Arkansas
  8. Kansas City, Missouri
  9. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
  10. Greenville, South Carolina
  11. Toledo, Ohio
  12. Raleigh, North Carolina
  13. Syracuse, New York
  14. Louisville, Kentucky