These U.S. cities have the largest concentration of Gen Z homebuyers

A first-time buyer used to rent through their twenties, save for a few years, then buy once income caught up with home prices. That timeline has stretched later into adulthood for the newest generation of buyers. Mortgage rates hovering near seven percent, entry-level home prices that outpaced wage growth through most of the past decade, and student debt that delayed saving all pushed the typical first-time buyer further into their thirties. Young adults are still finding their way into mortgage applications, just not evenly across the map. In some cities, the youngest generation of buyers accounts for roughly one in four mortgage requests. In others, it's closer to one in ten.

A mortgage payment scales with the price of the home, and home prices vary enormously from one city to the next, so the income and credit needed to qualify vary just as much. Younger buyers also tend to carry thinner financial cushions than the generations ahead of them. Nationally, buyers born after 1996 are putting down an average of $44,966 and borrowing roughly $274,794, tens of thousands of dollars less than buyers in their thirties and forties typically put down and borrow. Older Americans who locked in low mortgage rates years ago have also been reluctant to sell and take on a new loan at today's higher rates, leaving more room in some markets for first-time buyers to step in. Where housing costs stay modest and local incomes keep pace, that opening gets filled fastest.

LendingTree analyzed mortgage purchase requests submitted through its platform in 2025, isolating the share that came from adults ages 18 to 28, and sorted the country's 50 largest cities by how large that share was. The data breaks down each city's average credit score, down payment, and loan amount for these buyers, along with how much their presence has grown or shrunk since 2024. Affordability, not ambition, is deciding where the next generation of homeowners gets its start.

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Minneapolis, Minn., has the largest concentration of Gen Z homebuyers of any city LendingTree tracked. Adults ages 18 to 28 made up 26.4% of the mortgage purchase requests submitted there in 2025, up from 23.6% a year earlier. Matt Schulz, LendingTree's chief consumer finance analyst, points to income as the biggest driver behind that share. Minneapolis pairs relatively affordable housing costs with some of the stronger paychecks among the cities where young buyers are most active, a combination that widens who can realistically qualify for a mortgage. Gen Z buyers in Minneapolis also carry an average credit score of 690, well above the national Gen Z average of 674. Schulz notes that Minnesota residents generally carry stronger credit profiles, which makes it easier for young buyers there to close on a loan rather than just qualify for one on paper.

Gen Z buyers in Minneapolis put down an average of $46,849 and take out loans averaging $288,483, both above the national Gen Z figures of $44,966 and $274,794 despite the city's relative affordability. Buyers there aren't stretching to the loan balances seen in pricier coastal cities, but they're bringing more money to the table than most of their peers elsewhere. Minneapolis added 2.7 percentage points of Gen Z share between 2024 and 2025, an 11.5% increase, as older homeowners hold onto mortgages locked in at lower rates and leave more of the available inventory to a generation just beginning to build equity.

Minneapolis's gains also mirror what's happening nationally, just at a larger scale. Gen Z's overall share of mortgage requests climbed from 18.1% to 19.9% between 2024 and 2025, a trend Schulz ties partly to older homeowners staying put rather than trading a low mortgage rate for a higher one. Minneapolis has ridden that wave further than most cities, and the credit and income advantages its young buyers carry suggest the city has room to keep climbing even as competition for entry-level homes intensifies elsewhere. Compared with the typical millennial down payment of $72,412 nationally, Gen Z buyers in Minneapolis are still putting down far less, a reminder of how much ground the generation still has to make up even in its strongest city.

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Few cities have opened up to young buyers as quickly as Birmingham, Ala. Gen Z's share of mortgage purchase requests there jumped from 19.6% in 2024 to 25.7% in 2025, a gain of 6.1 percentage points and the second-largest share among the cities LendingTree analyzed. Only a handful of cities saw a faster percentage increase in that share, up 30.9% year over year. Home prices in Birmingham remain well below the national median, which keeps the math of a first purchase within reach for buyers who are still early in their careers.

Gen Z buyers in Birmingham carry an average credit score of 667, the lowest of any city among the fastest-growing markets for this generation and below the national Gen Z average of 674, which points to the tradeoff behind that affordability. Matt Schulz, LendingTree's chief consumer finance analyst, describes Birmingham as affordable but at a lower income tier than cities like Minneapolis, which helps explain both the surge in Gen Z activity and the softer credit profile behind it. Buyers there put down an average of $37,932 and borrow $223,750, both well below the national Gen Z figures of $44,966 and $274,794, since that same affordability shapes the purchase itself and not just who can qualify for one. A young buyer priced out of a coastal city's entry-level market can still find a foothold in Birmingham, even without the strongest credit file or the biggest savings account.

Birmingham's trajectory stands out against the national backdrop too. Gen Z's overall share of mortgage requests rose from 18.1% to 19.9% nationally between 2024 and 2025, an increase of less than two percentage points. Birmingham's 6.1-point jump dwarfs that pace, making it one of the fastest-moving cities in the entire analysis even though its buyers carry some of the weaker credit profiles among the cities where young buyers are most active. Rapid growth paired with a below-average credit score points to affordability, rather than buyer strength, as the real driver in Birmingham. The city's below-average down payment and loan figures back up that read, showing buyers stretching less financially even as their numbers grow.

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Indianapolis, Ind., rounds out the top tier of cities where Gen Z is buying in the largest numbers. The generation made up 24.6% of mortgage purchase requests there in 2025, up from 22.6% the year before, a gain of 8.7%. Matt Schulz, LendingTree's chief consumer finance analyst, ranks Indianapolis between Minneapolis and Birmingham on income. Young buyers there aren't as flush as their counterparts in Minneapolis, but they earn more than buyers in Birmingham, which puts the city in the middle of the three on income.

That middle position carries through the rest of the numbers. Gen Z buyers in Indianapolis average a credit score of 679, five points above the national Gen Z average of 674 and comfortably ahead of buyers in Birmingham. Down payments average $37,371, and loan amounts average $237,966, both figures that sit below the national Gen Z averages of $44,966 and $274,794 but reflect the city's below-average home prices rather than any strain on affordability. Steady population growth in the city and a diversified local economy anchored by health care, logistics, and manufacturing have kept entry-level inventory available even as buyers nationwide compete for a shrinking pool of starter homes. Young professionals settling into their first years of full-time work find real job opportunities there paired with a housing market that hasn't priced them out before they've had a chance to save.

Indianapolis's growth also looks modest next to the fastest-moving cities on this list, even though the underlying numbers are solid. National Gen Z share grew from 18.1% to 19.9% between 2024 and 2025, and Indianapolis's own gain of two percentage points sits close to that national pace rather than far ahead of it. What sets the city apart is the steady combination of above-average credit and below-average home prices, not a sudden surge, which has kept a stream of new buyers arriving every year without the sharp swings seen in faster-growing Southern cities.

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Gen Z's foothold in Kansas City, Mo., has grown quietly but consistently. The generation's share of mortgage purchase requests rose from 22.2% in 2024 to 24.5% in 2025, a gain of 2.3 percentage points and a 10.4% increase year over year, placing the city in a tie for the fourth-largest Gen Z share among the 50 cities LendingTree analyzed. Kansas City's housing stock skews toward moderately priced single-family homes, and its cost of living sits well below coastal benchmarks, which keeps a first purchase within reach for buyers who are just a few years into their careers.

Gen Z homebuyers in Kansas City average a credit score of 677, just above the national Gen Z figure of 674, since their financial profile backs up that same affordability story. They put down an average of $38,459 and borrow an average of $247,056, both well below the national Gen Z figures of $44,966 and $274,794, evidence that buyers here aren't overextending to compete for homes. Kansas City's diversified economy, built on logistics, agribusiness, and a growing tech and startup scene, has kept job growth steady without the runaway price appreciation that's priced out young buyers in faster-growing Sun Belt cities. That balance between opportunity and affordability is exactly the combination that's let Kansas City's Gen Z share climb every year without the volatility seen in some coastal cities.

Kansas City's climb also lines up closely with the national trend rather than outpacing it. Gen Z's overall share of mortgage requests rose from 18.1% to 19.9% nationally between 2024 and 2025, and Kansas City's own increase of 2.3 percentage points tracks that pace closely. Buyers here are neither pulling far ahead of the national curve nor falling behind it, which fits a city where affordability and income have stayed in balance rather than swinging sharply in either direction from one year to the next.

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Milwaukee, Wis., has held its position among the cities most popular with Gen Z buyers for two years running. The generation accounted for 24.5% of mortgage purchase requests there in 2025, tying Kansas City for the fourth-largest share nationally and essentially flat from 24.2% in 2024. Gen Z's presence in the Milwaukee market was already strong heading into 2025, so the city's share held roughly flat rather than climbing further last year.

Gen Z buyers in Milwaukee average a credit score of 684, among the strongest of any city with a large Gen Z presence and 10 points above the national Gen Z average of 674, which helps explain why the city's share has stayed durable. Down payments average $43,777 and loan amounts average $257,503, both close to the national Gen Z figures of $44,966 and $274,794, which suggests Milwaukee buyers are neither straining their budgets nor getting an unusual discount relative to their peers elsewhere. Wisconsin's broader reputation for strong household credit, the same dynamic Schulz points to in nearby Minneapolis, appears to extend to Milwaukee's younger buyers as well. A stable manufacturing and health care base has kept incomes predictable, and predictable incomes make for buyers who can plan a purchase rather than rush one.

Milwaukee's flat trajectory looks different set against the national trend, where Gen Z's overall share climbed from 18.1% to 19.9% between 2024 and 2025. Most cities on this list added at least two percentage points of Gen Z share over that span. Milwaukee added just 0.2 percentage points, a 1.0% increase and the smallest gain among the seven cities with the largest Gen Z presence. That reflects a market that had already absorbed much of its available first-time buyer demand the year before, leaving less room for further growth in a single year.

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Cincinnati, Ohio, has settled into the middle of the pack among cities with strong Gen Z homebuying activity, and that consistency is itself notable. The generation made up 24.1% of mortgage purchase requests there in 2025, up only slightly from 23.6% in 2024, a modest 2.2% increase. Unlike Birmingham or Nashville, Cincinnati is simply sustaining a share that was already among the highest in the country a year earlier, rather than riding a sudden wave of new buyers.

Gen Z buyers in Cincinnati average a credit score of 679, five points above the national Gen Z average of 674, since solid credit is part of what's kept the city's share so steady. Their down payment averages just $35,312, one of the smaller down payments among cities with a large Gen Z presence, and their loan amount of $222,219 is also well below the national Gen Z figure of $274,794. Cincinnati's cost of living ranks among the lowest of any major Midwestern city, and a mix of finance, health care, and consumer goods employers has kept the local job market resilient through recent economic swings. For a young buyer with a modest down payment saved up, Cincinnati remains one of the more forgiving paths into homeownership, without requiring the credit profile or savings cushion that pricier cities demand.

Cincinnati's steadiness looks similar next to the national trend, where overall Gen Z share rose from 18.1% to 19.9% between 2024 and 2025, a gain of about two percentage points. Cincinnati's own increase of half a percentage point trails that national pace, yet its 24.1% share still ranks among the highest of any city in the analysis. That gap between fast national growth and a slower local gain suggests Cincinnati reached a high level of Gen Z activity earlier than most other cities on this list and has simply held that level steady since, without the sharp swings up or down seen elsewhere.

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Nashville, Tenn., has seen one of the sharpest jumps in Gen Z homebuying activity of any city LendingTree analyzed. The generation's share of mortgage purchase requests climbed from 19.6% in 2024 to 24.0% in 2025, a gain of 4.3 percentage points and a 22.1% increase, one of the fastest growth rates in the entire study. That surge comes even as Nashville's home prices have climbed well above what many of the other fast-growing Gen Z cities charge.

Gen Z buyers in Nashville average a credit score of 685, well above the national Gen Z average of 674, and put down an average of $55,212 while borrowing an average of $331,382, both notably higher than the national Gen Z figures of $44,966 and $274,794, since Nashville's higher cost of entry demands more from every buyer regardless of generation. Nashville's job market, fueled by health care, music and entertainment, and a wave of corporate relocations over the past decade, has drawn a steady stream of young professionals with the income and credit to compete in a pricier market. Unlike the affordability-driven surges in Birmingham or Kansas City, Nashville's growth looks more like buyers with strong financial footing choosing the city on its merits, even at a higher price than they'd pay elsewhere in the region.

Nashville's jump also stands out against the national pace, where overall Gen Z share grew from 18.1% to 19.9% between 2024 and 2025, an increase of less than two percentage points nationally. Nashville's gain of 4.3 percentage points is more than double that national pace, even as its buyers already carry some of the highest income and credit profiles among the cities with a large Gen Z presence. Few cities have managed that kind of growth without a corresponding drop in buyer quality, and Nashville's ability to do both at once sets it apart from cities like Birmingham, where growth has come alongside a softer credit profile rather than a stronger one.