The 10 Best Places to Build a Forever Home

MYMOVE analysts recently published a list ranking 468 cities as the Best Places to Build a Forever Home. The rankings weighed factors such as the cost of a custom-built home, cost of living for the area, home value growth, and other livability metrics.

The cities near the top of the list were areas that had growth in home value, relatively low costs for custom homes relative to income, and tended to be smaller cities

Key Highlights:

• Five of the top 10 cities were in Texas, and they all ranked in the top 10% of cities for the low cost of a custom home.
• Most of the top cities are in the Midwest and Mid-South.
• Cities with the lowest costs for custom homes also tend to be areas where home value growth was modest or nearly stagnant.
• Cities with high home value growth tend to be much less affordable — in many cases, the cost for a custom home was more than 15 times higher than the area’s median income.

Best Cities to Build a Forever Home

1. Edmond, Okla.

City of Edmond

Population: 90,090

Median Income: $73,885

Cost of a custom home: $526,460

Home value growth: 22%

2. Frisco, Texas

Median Income: $123,055

Cost of a custom home: $987,439

Home value growth: 39%

3. Flower Mound, Texas

Meredith Butterfield/Town of Flower Mound

Population: 71,024

Median Income: $120,084

Cost of a custom home: $824,100

Home value growth: 27%

4. Round Rock, Texas

Median Income: $75,974

Cost of a custom home: $582,296

Home value growth: 24%

5. Rochester Hills, Mich.

Median Income: $81,124

Cost of a custom home: $419,942

Home value growth: 21%

6. Midland, Texas

Median Income: $80,700

Cost of a custom home: $649,556

Home value growth: 53%

7. Troy, Mich.

City of Troy

Population: 83,276

Median Income: $87,447

Cost of a custom home: $418,038

Home value growth: 18%

8. Sugar Land, Texas

Median Income: $111,124

Cost of a custom home: $928,465

Home value growth: 16%

9. Carmel, Ind.

Median Income: $108,660

Cost of a custom home: $ 607,702

Home value growth: 8%

10. Lee’s Summit, Mo.

City of Lee’s Summit

Population: 95,068

Median Income: $75,020

Cost of a custom home: $464,506

Home value growth: 9%