The 10 Best Places to Build a Forever Home

Updated May 9, 2018

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

Flags flying in a field at sunset in Frisco Texas

Median Income: $123,055 Cost of a custom home: $987,439 Home value growth: 39%

3. Flower Mound, Texas

Night time city street in 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

Top down view of a neighborhood in Round Rock Texas

Median Income: $75,974 Cost of a custom home: $582,296 Home value growth: 24%

5. Rochester Hills, Mich.

A house in the fall in Rochester Hills Michigan

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.

Family walking across a street in Lee's Summit Missouri

City of Lee's Summit Population: 95,068 Median Income: $75,020 Cost of a custom home: $464,506 Home value growth: 9%

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