Strongest markets right now
Set to outperform
Forecast price growth per year over the next 10 years.
ZIP 21152 in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD metro: typical home value $527,089 (+2.5%), walkability 5.8 of 20, average commute 25 minutes, median household income $121,350. Public schools nearby and every ZIP compared.
Forecast price growth per year over the next 10 years.
Who's set to outperform over 1, 5 and 10 years. Model forecasts, tested on years they never saw.
A metro's score combines the scores of its ranked counties.
Every market is measured the same way within its layer, using only public data, so any score can be traced back to its inputs. There are three layers: countries, regions within a country, and US counties.
Data comes from central banks, statistics offices and public research sources: BIS, OECD, IMF and World Bank for countries, national statistics offices for regions, and 18 sources for US counties. Every source and period is listed below.
Each measure becomes 0–100 against its peers (countries against countries, UK areas against UK areas, US counties against US counties), where 50 is the average. Extreme values are trimmed, and measures where lower is better are flipped.
Measures are combined with the weights below. If a market is missing one, its weight is shared across the rest.
A market is ranked when at least 70% of its score's weight is observed (and, for US counties, 25,000+ residents).
Scored against other regions in the same country, so a 60 in the UK and a 60 in Canada are not directly comparable.
The deepest layer. Hover the bar to see each measure.
Counties are also ranked against markets of similar size.
250,000+ residents, a typical home value of $400k or more, and 500+ sales a month.
Any one of: 75,000+ residents, a typical home value of $250k or more, or 150+ sales a month.
Everything else with 25,000+ residents.
All sources are free and public, and each updates on its own schedule. Periods shown are what the current scores use.
| Source | What it measures here | Data period | Licence |
|---|
| Source | What it measures here | Data period | Published |
|---|
The index is a working model. These are its known limits.
The backtest covers seven years (2019-2025), including the pandemic boom and the 2022 rate shock. It shows the score ranked markets well, not that it will keep doing so.
Most counties score between 45 and 56. Treat differences of a point or two as a tie.
New building counts against a market here because it adds supply. Counting it as a growth signal instead favors Sun Belt metros.
IRS income migration reflects 2022–23 filings; Census income, rent and vacancy figures are 2020–24 averages; the 2025 American Community Survey was delayed by the Commerce Department.
The 12-month price outlook rolls Zillow's ZIP-code forecasts up to counties; HUD's FY2027 rents are administrative benchmarks. Both are inputs, not predictions by this index.
Counties under 25,000 residents are scored but not ranked, because their numbers swing more from year to year. Some measures cover fewer counties; missing measures have their weight shared across the rest.
A country score uses national averages from central banks and statistics offices. Within a country, regions can move in opposite directions; check the regional layer where one exists.
Only about 58 economies publish a reliable national house price index. Countries without one are left grey rather than guessed.
Connecticut's new planning regions don't match the county lines the listing sources use. No free, national county-level foreclosure feed exists; CFPB delinquency rates (about 500 counties) are shown for context only.
Ask about any market, city or neighborhood: jobs, rent, prices, commutes or forecasts. Every answer comes from our data, with links.
Put the index to work on your own question.
Up to four side by side. US metros and counties share one scale; countries share another.
The metros within reach of your budget, ranked by outlook.
Your saved markets, kept in this browser.
Your job and priorities in, the best US metros out.
Where your job pays best after living costs.
Get an email when something changes, instead of checking every day.