Can you guess which Midwest town claimed the top spot?
Signifying a new trend toward affordability, Prairie Village, Kansas, was Zillow’s most popular market of 2022. The designation also showcases rising interest in the Midwest, and it headlined a major shift from 2021’s leaders, many of which sat on or near the West Coast. Grand Rapids, Michigan, another gem of the Midwest, clocked in as Zillow’s most popular large city.
Also usurping the West in 2022, the East Coast boasted the most popular small town (Windham, New Hampshire), the most popular vacation town (Lavallette, New Jersey), and the most popular seaside town (Beverly, Massachusetts). Lastly, Dunedin, Florida, which is on the west coast of Florida but nowhere near the West Coast, figured as the most popular retirement town.
“The most popular places on Zillow showcase a few trends we’ve noticed over the course of the year — most notably that affordability has become the chief driver of the market,” says Anushna Prakash, economic data analyst at Zillow. “The Midwest and most Northeastern markets saw relatively small run-ups in home values over the course of the pandemic, and now are still affordable enough for residents to shop in.”
Zillow designates popular markets based on Zillow® page views, available housing inventory, sales, price appreciation, and other housing barometers that indicate consumer demand. Zillow analyzed thousands of ZIP codes within the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas to create a ranking of the site’s most popular U.S. cities.
Most popular on Zillow overall: Prairie Village, Kansas
Listings: Prairie Village
Population: 22,878 (2021)
Nearest Major City: Kansas City, MO (10 miles)
Current home values and trends
An upscale suburban community just 20 minutes from downtown Kansas City, Prairie Village landed at the top of Zillow’s popularity rankings with site-leading page views of for-sale listings. With Kansas City so close, Prairie Village residents can easily visit Swope Park, one of the largest municipal parks in the United States, or check out the world’s largest shuttlecocks at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art.
Residing on the Kansas-Missouri state line and loaded with boutique shops and restaurants, plus a long-running art festival, Prairie Village also tops Zillow’s popularity rankings for small towns.
Most popular large city: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Listings: Grand Rapids
Population: 197,416 (2021)
Nearest Major City: Detroit, MI (158 miles)
Current home values and trends
Almost equidistant from Chicago and Detroit, Grand Rapids topped the popularity chart among cities with populations greater than 200,000, driven by relatively affordable home values.
A 34-mile drive from Grand Rapids gets you to Grand Haven, on Lake Michigan. Just outside city limits sits the 15,000 square-foot Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park. A wide selection of breweries and a growing local restaurant scene are also attracting attention, as indicated by the near 11% annual increase in page views per listing per day.
Most popular seaside town: Beverly, Massachusetts
Listings: Beverly, Massachusetts
Population: 42,446 (2021)
Nearest Major City: Boston (22 miles)
Current home values and trends
A quick drive from Boston (depending on traffic), Beverly features five nearby beaches, miles of coastline, and easily accessible public parks, helping to make it Zillow’s most popular seaside town in 2022. Endicott College, a well-ranked regional college, offers a beachfront campus.
Random fact: Beverly was home to the first cotton mill in the United States. Top rankings for page views and relatively low home values compared to its competition helped propel Beverly to the apex of the category.
Most popular vacation town: Lavallette, New Jersey
Listings: Lavallette, New Jersey
Population: 1,821 (2021)
Nearest Major City: Philadelphia (72 miles; New York City is 73)
Current home values and trends
Last year’s most popular retirement town is this year’s most popular vacation town. Packed efficiently onto all of 0.8 square miles on the northern section of Barnegat Peninsula, Lavallette features long, sandy beaches for swimming, surfing, and fishing in the Atlantic. Bocce, tennis, and rollerblading are also popular along the town’s boardwalk. For the sportsperson, crabbing, sailing, and other water sports abound in nearby Barnegat Bay.
While vacation homes come with higher price tags, Lavallette ranked as affordable relative to surrounding areas, with a typical home valued at $985,992 (see current values and trends). Indian Rocks Beach, Florida, and South Lake Tahoe, California (the most popular city in 2021), followed Lavallette in Zillow’s results.
Most popular retirement town: Dunedin, Florida
Listings: Dunedin, Florida
Population: 35,949 (2021)
Nearest Major City: Tampa (24 miles)
Current home values and trends
Seizing the most popular retirement town title from Lavallette is Dunedin, Florida (pronounced Done-EE-din), where residents can access two gorgeous island parks. Caladesi Island State Park is accessible only by boat and features white sandy beaches, swimming, boating, fishing, and picnic facilities. Catch the ferry from the aptly named Honeymoon Island State Park. Grab some snacks at the Dunedin Downtown Market.
Dunedin overtook Lavallette, which itself still ranked high in this category, due to the number of listing views per day and relative affordability (see current home values and trends).
When it comes to retirement, Florida destinations dominate on our list. The state boasts the top three cities in the category, with Sarasota second and St. Pete Beach third. Even as expensive Western markets cooled in 2022, demand for homes in Florida has surged.
Most popular small town: Windham, New Hampshire
Listings: Windham, New Hampshire
Population: 13,592 (2010)
Nearest Major City: Boston (37 miles)
Current home values and trends
Zillow defined “small towns” as cities with populations between 15,000 and 25,000. Windham, a bedroom community outside Boston, scored highest on Zillow’s index after Prairie Village. Popular partly due to its proximity to Boston, Windham’s home values are higher than the Boston metro area (see current home values and trends), and its home values have risen faster since last year compared to its competitors. As such, Windham bucks the affordability trend found in other areas on this year’s list. Home prices grew 12.5% in Windham since last November, compared to 8.4% in Prairie Village.
Hockessin, Delaware, located outside Philadelphia, followed Windham for third.
Most popular college town: Tempe, Arizona
Listings: Tempe, Arizona
Population: 184,118 (2021)
Nearest Major City: Phoenix (10 miles)
Current home values and trends
College towns were judged slightly differently than other categories on our list. To create the index, Zillow leveraged the number of rental listings, median list rent, rent growth and rental page views. Page views were given the most weight. In this analysis, “college towns” are defined as cities where college students account for at least 20% of the population more based on 2021 U.S. Census data.
Reigning as Zillow’s top college town for the second year in a row, Tempe is home to Arizona State University and a bevy of smaller schools. It’s also home to the second-highest total number of rental listings among college towns studied. (The runner up? Cambridge, Massachusetts). Tempe also hosts one of the largest populations of undergraduate and graduate college students in the country.
Baseball buffs can sit in on spring training with the Los Angeles Angels, and recreational folks can hit Tempe Town Lake for kayaking, paddle boarding, rowing, walking, fishing, or picnicking. Nearby the ASU campus, a throng of restaurants tends to the vast student population.