Fifth place: Buffalo, N.Y.
Even upscale Buffalo suburbs, such as Amherst, have superb prices, like this two-bedroom ranch for $149,000.
Newbie owners go smallMedian income: $63,700
Affordability score: 93.3%
A hundred years ago, Buffalo was the 10th largest city in the United States with more people than San Francisco, Los Angeles or Houston. In those days, its steel mills and grain elevators hummed with activity.
The World War II-era was the last of the glory years. As American manufacturers lost their competitive edge, the city lapsed into a genteel somnambulance, which included many fine old homes. The solid housing stock has helped make it one of the best places in the nation to raise a family.
Employment in the metro area has been stable with only 7.7% of the workforce unemployed, nearly 2 percentage points below the national average.
And the mortgage crisis mostly bypassed the area. Only one of every 570 homes received a foreclosure notice of any kind during the first six months of the year, one of the lowest rates among U.S. metro areas.
NEXT: Least affordable: New York City
Last updated August 23 2010: 11:03 AM ET
