Our list of top 10 zip codes shows the concentration of buyer demand in affordable Midwest markets and well-located Northeast markets that offer convenience and value. Homes in the hottest zip codes tend to be larger than the U.S. average. Despite their size advantage, a majority of the hottest zips see prices at or below the U.S. median. The Northeast markets on the list tended to be higher priced, but offered more space at a discount relative to the central areas of high-cost metros nearby.
The presence of zips within higher-priced major metros on this year’s list suggests that some buyers have adjusted to the higher-rate environment and are moving forward with their home search. It is also possible that this year’s list is telling the story of two different types of buyers. Affordable markets have gained popularity with the typical buyer looking to achieve homeownership despite widespread unaffordability. Meanwhile, pricier markets in the suburbs of large cities may be attracting higher-earning buyers who are driven by quality of life offerings in these areas as opposed to affordability.
So far this year, mortgage rates have remained in the 6-7% range, keeping the pressure on affordability while prices have yielded little. Homeowners who feel ‘locked-in’ by their current mortgage rate are not eager to list their home, leading to fewer home options for shoppers. This year’s shoppers have flocked to areas that are either affordable relative to the country or to the nearby metro area. The top zips saw prices climb an average 7.2% compared to the previous year in the first half of 2023, exceeding the U.S.’ 4.2% average price growth. These zips raked in between 2.9 and 5.7 times the number of views per property as was typical in the U.S. This demand fueled the quick pace of sale with homes spending 30 to 40 fewer days on market than the typical U.S. home.
Six of the ten hottest zip codes on the list are in the Northeast, while the Midwest holds four spots on the list. The Southern and Western regions are not represented in this year’s ten hottest zips as buyer interest has shifted away from the areas that are generally unaffordable, or have become less affordable due to significant price growth during the pandemic.
Realtor.com’s Hottest Zip Code rankings take into account two aspects of the housing market: 1) market demand, as measured by unique viewers per property on Realtor.com, and 2) the pace of the market as measured by the number of days a listing remains active on Realtor.com. The hottest areas are those that have high demand from buyers, in other words, lots of unique viewers per each property listed for sale, and fast-selling homes, an indicator of limited supply.
The 2023 hottest ZIP codes in America, in rank order, are:
| Rank | Zip Code | Zip Name | Metro Area | Viewers per property vs US | Median Days on Market | Median Listing Price |
| 1 | 43230 | Gahanna, Ohio | Columbus, OH | 4.5 | 13 | $351,000 |
| 2 | 06489 | Southington, Connecticut | Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, CT | 5.7 | 18 | $368,000 |
| 3 | 07450 | Ridgewood, New Jersey | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | 3.3 | 18 | $1,184,000 |
| 4 | 01810 | Andover, Massachusetts | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | 3.3 | 19 | $992,000 |
| 5 | 18064 | Nazareth, Pennsylvania | Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ | 3.4 | 18 | $429,000 |
| 6 | 46322 | Highland, Indiana | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI | 2.9 | 19 | $268,000 |
| 7 | 48183 | Trenton, Michigan | Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | 3.1 | 20 | $238,000 |
| 8 | 06851 | Norwalk, Connecticut | Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT | 2.9 | 23 | $596,000 |
| 9 | 14534 | Pittsford, New York | Rochester, NY | 3.5 | 21 | $595,000 |
| 10 | 63021 | Ballwin, Missouri | St. Louis, MO-IL | 3.1 | 23 | $353,000 |
*Limited to one zip code per metropolitan area, Jan-June 2023 data
Affordability is Still the Dominant Driver
Home shoppers faced the now-familiar challenge of high mortgage rates coupled with yet-to-fall prices in the first half of this year. In response, buyer attention has concentrated largely in areas that are relatively affordable. Roughly half of this year’s hottest zips were priced below the typical U.S. home in the first half of 2023. Only the Northeast and Midwest are represented on this year’s list, the first time in the list’s history that only two regions are represented. While Northeast zips tend to be higher priced, the hottest zips in this area offer some advantage to home shoppers who are looking for value in proximity to the region’s economic centers.
Four Midwest markets are on this year’s list, the most since 2019. These four zip codes are in the Columbus (ZIP 43230), Chicago (ZIP 46322), Detroit (ZIP 48183) and St. Louis (ZIP 63021) metro areas. The Midwest has enjoyed growing popularity as climbing prices and mortgage rates made popular pandemic-era markets unfeasible for many home shoppers. The Midwest zips on this year’s list boast low prices near large metro areas. The unemployment rates in the Columbus, Detroit and St. Louis areas are below the national average, offering prospective buyers a strong economy nearby. On average, the Midwest markets were priced 24.7% lower than the U.S. median in June, drawing in buyers seeking affordability and proximity to economic centers.
Every zip code in our top 10 offers some element of value for potential buyers. Seven of the top 10 zip codes offer affordability in the form of a comparable or lower median list price compared to the U.S. housing market, or relative to their surrounding metropolitan area, or both in June. The remaining three zips are not driven to the top by affordability, but rather other factors that today’s home shoppers value.
But Some Shoppers Are Looking for High-Quality, City-Adjacent Homes
In addition to affordable markets, this year’s list features some high-priced areas that are highly desirable for their proximity to large urban cores. The higher-priced markets offer urbanites the opportunity to find a larger home in a desirable area without giving up convenience. These areas likely appeal to buyers that are less concerned about affordability and more concerned with finding the right combination of size and amenities within commuting distance of the city’s core.
The shift towards more in-office work has continued, meaning that many buyers are looking to find some desirable combination of convenience and lifestyle perks. ZIP 07450 is in Ridgewood, NJ, a high-priced suburb of the New York City metro that offers an idyllic setting for home shoppers looking to live outside of the city but still be close by. The typical listing in the zip was more than double the size of the typical listing in the NYC metro in June, though price-per-square-foot was 7.9% higher than the metro’s average. Similarly, the typical home in the hottest zip in Pittsford, NY (ZIP 14534) was 29.3% larger than the median sized home in the surrounding Rochester metro in June, and despite the price premium to live in the desirable village (+51% per-square-foot), listing viewership was more than 30% higher than the surrounding metro in June. Ballwin, MO (ZIP 63021) is similar to these Northeast locales in that listing prices in the area tend to be higher than the metro average. Homes for sale were more than 30% larger than the metro median in June, and still 13% more on a price per-square-foot basis. Finally, ZIP 01810 is in Andover, MA, a suburb in the Boston area, and boasts homes priced at nearly 25% less per-square-foot than Boston in June, but the larger size more than offsets the per-square-foot savings, and listings in this ZIP are pricier than the the typical metro home for sale.
And Nearly All Hottest Zips Feature More Space
The typical household in ZIP 07450 (Ridgewood, NJ), ZIP 01810 (Andover, MA), and ZIP 14534 (Pittsford, NY) is larger than the U.S. average, suggesting that buyers in these pricier locales may be looking for more space to accommodate a larger household. This is particularly true in the most expensive zip on this year’s list, ZIP 07450 (Ridgewood, NJ), where the typical household is 19.7% larger than the U.S. average of 2.5 people. The more affordable markets also tend to have larger homes than their metro area’s average. Overall, the typical home was larger than the metro’s average in 7 of the 10 hottest zips in June.
Inventory Struggles to Keep Up with Quick Pace of Sale
As the U.S. housing market started to cool as a whole in response to affordability stress, affordable housing markets kept up the pace. While the national housing market tacked nearly two weeks on to the typical time a home spends on the market this June, the hottest zips saw homes spend the same amount of time on market as last year, on average. Homes spent between 10 and 25 days on the market in the hottest zip codes, while homes spend 44 days on the market, nationally. Demand in all of the hottest zip codes outpaced US demand. The number of visitors per property on Realtor.com in the top zip codes was 3.1 times higher than for the typical U.S. property, on average. Viewers per property in the hottest zip codes were 1.7 times as high as their surrounding metro areas.
While homes continued to sell quickly in the hottest markets, inventory tightened. On average, in the ten hottest zips, inventory fell 22.4% in June compared to a 7.1% increase nationally. Limited inventory in these in-demand zips means that buyers must put their best foot forward to compete.
Competition in High-Demand Areas Leads to Well-Qualified Buyers
The high price of financing a home purchase this year and still-steep competition in these hottest areas raised the credit-stakes for home shoppers. Successful buyers were highly qualified and up to the task in the hottest markets with an average credit score of 754 compared to the U.S.’ average of 740 as well as a 17.2% average down payment compared to the national average of 12.3% in the first half of 2023. The average household income in the hottest zips was $115,000 compared to $74,000 nationally. Only one of the ten hottest zips had a median income level below the national average.
Big-City Dwellers Are Driving Demand in the Hottest Zips
The majority of this year’s hottest zips drew more than half of their property views from within their metro, suggesting that in many areas, buyers are looking to move around locally. Half of the 6 metros pulling in significant local views, are located in large metros and in the majority of the hottest zips overall, out-of-metro views are coming from these same large metro areas. Interestingly, ZIP 43230 (Gahanna, Ohio) saw the largest share of out-of-metro viewership relative to the other Midwest metros, garnering 13.1% of its viewership from the NYC area in the second quarter of 2023 while all the other midwest metros saw more within-metro and within-region viewership.
This year’s hottest zip code, ZIP 43230 (Gahanna, Ohio), continued the legacy of Columbus,OH markets on the hottest zips list. The Columbus area offers home shoppers the amenities and quality-of-life advantages of a larger town, but at a lower price point. This area is home to The Ohio State University, and locals can join in on the enthusiasm around college sports, as well as enjoy the exciting Short North Arts District as well as a captivating food scene. Homes in this zip code were priced 2.7% below the metro’s average in June, and 12.7% below the national median. The lifestyle and affordability available in ZIP 43230 (Gahanna, Ohio) drew the attention of shoppers in the New York City metro.
ZIP 07450 in Ridgewood, NJ and ZIP 46322 in Highland, IN attracted more than 80% of listing views from within their metro areas of NYC and Chicago, respectively, contributing to the trends of big-city movers and local-relocators.
High Homeownership in Hottest Zips
On average, the hottest zips have a homeownership rate of 76.7%, more than 10 percentage points higher than the national rate of 66.0%. Eight of the ten hottest zip codes boast homeownership rates above the U.S. level. However, ZIP 43230 (Gahanna, Ohio) and ZIP 06851 (Norwalk, CT) fall below the national rate of homeownership, suggesting that these areas may be favorable renting environments. This year’s hottest zip, ZIP 43230 (Gahanna, Ohio), has a homeownership rate of 60.0%, and more than a quarter of its population is in the 25-34 age frame, suggesting the area may be favorable for young renters along with its popularity among buyers.
As a whole, the hottest zips have a slightly older homeowner population than the nation. Older homeowners are poised to navigate today’s market more successfully as most are able to leverage their home equity to lessen the blow of price appreciation and high mortgage rates in purchasing a new home. The largest share of homeowners fall into the 55 to 64 age range, suggesting many buyers in these zips are not first-time home buyers. Roughly one-quarter of U.S. homeowners are between 25 and 44 years old, while just 23.3% of homeowners in the hottest zips are in this age bracket, on average. ZIP 43230 (Gahanna, Ohio) and ZIP 63021 (Ballwin, MO) are the only zips with a higher millennial ownership share than the U.S.
Fresh Entries and Familiar Faces
Though none of this year’s zip codes have been on the list before, the vast majority of this year’s hottest zips are within metro areas that have been represented on the hottest zips list in the past. Just 3 of the top 10 zips represent metros that are new to the list.
Columbus, Ohio has been a presence on the Hottest Zips list each year back to 2017, though this year’s zip has not held a spot before. Moreover, this is the first time that a Columbus zip has topped the list. Otherwise, seven of the metropolitan areas on the list this year have been represented in the past, albeit by a different zip code. The Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, CT (ZIP 06489), Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI (ZIP 46322) and Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT (ZIP 06851) metros are represented by a zip code on the Hottest Zips list for the first time in the data’s history.
These new entries drew demand from large, higher-priced metros within their own region. ZIP 06489 in Southington, CT saw roughly one-third of its viewership come from within the metro, with the New York City metro area in close second with 26.5% of listing views. Similarly, ZIP 06851 in Norwalk, CT saw 37.5% of its viewership per property come from the New York CIty area while 36.3% came from the surrounding Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT metro. Finally, ZIP 46322 in Highland, IN pulled in a remarkable 87.1% of its viewership from the surrounding Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI metro area. The presence of these metros on this year’s list suggests that more buyers are looking specifically within their larger geographical area to find more bang for their buck. The median listing price in all three of these zip codes is more affordable than the respective surrounding metro area.
Last Time on the List
| Last Time on the List | ||||
| Rank | Zip Code | Metro Area | Zip | Metro |
| 1 | 43230 | Columbus, OH | – | #3 2022 |
| 2 | 06489 | Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, CT | – | – |
| 3 | 07450 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | – | #2 2018 |
| 4 | 01810 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | – | #4 2022 |
| 5 | 18064 | Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ | – | #6 2022 |
| 6 | 46322 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI | – | – |
| 7 | 48183 | Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | – | #9 2021 |
| 8 | 06851 | Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT | – | – |
| 9 | 14534 | Rochester, NY | – | #1 2022 |
| 10 | 63021 | St. Louis, MO-IL | – | #2 2016 |
Top 50 Hottest Zip Codes
| Rank | Zip Code | Zip Name | Metro Area | Viewers per property vs US | Median Days on Market | June Median Listing Price |
| 1 | 43230 | Gahanna, Ohio | Columbus, OH | 4.5 | 13 | $389,000 |
| 2 | 06489 | Southington, Connecticut | Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, CT | 5.7 | 18 | $410,000 |
| 3 | 07450 | Ridgewood, New Jersey | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | 3.3 | 18 | $918,000 |
| 4 | 01810 | Andover, Massachusetts | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | 3.3 | 19 | $1,117,000 |
| 5 | 18064 | Nazareth, Pennsylvania | Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ | 3.4 | 18 | $446,000 |
| 6 | 46322 | Highland, Indiana | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI | 2.9 | 19 | $289,000 |
| 7 | 48183 | Trenton, Michigan | Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | 3.1 | 20 | $280,000 |
| 8 | 06851 | Norwalk, Connecticut | Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT | 2.9 | 23 | $749,000 |
| 9 | 14534 | Pittsford, New York | Rochester, NY | 3.5 | 21 | $571,000 |
| 10 | 63021 | Ballwin, Missouri | St. Louis, MO-IL | 3.1 | 23 | $381,000 |
| 11 | 06790 | Torrington, Connecticut | Torrington, CT | 3.0 | 25 | $310,000 |
| 12 | 40241 | Louisville, Kentucky | Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | 2.5 | 22 | $412,000 |
| 13 | 29414 | Charleston, South Carolina | Charleston-North Charleston, SC | 2.4 | 22 | $559,000 |
| 14 | 29212 | Columbia, South Carolina | Columbia, SC | 2.8 | 26 | $340,000 |
| 15 | 45424 | Dayton, Ohio | Dayton-Kettering, OH | 2.6 | 23 | $287,000 |
| 16 | 53005 | Brookfield, Wisconsin | Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI | 3.1 | 27 | $472,000 |
| 17 | 47905 | Lafayette, Indiana | Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN | 2.9 | 27 | $419,000 |
| 18 | 43537 | Maumee, Ohio | Toledo, OH | 3.1 | 29 | $307,000 |
| 19 | 08080 | Sewell, New Jersey | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 2.9 | 26 | $390,000 |
| 20 | 02703 | Attleboro, Massachusetts | Providence-Warwick, RI-MA | 2.6 | 25 | $449,000 |
| 21 | 01085 | Westfield, Massachusetts | Springfield, MA | 3.1 | 28 | $392,000 |
| 22 | 01545 | Shrewsbury, Massachusetts | Worcester, MA-CT | 2.7 | 25 | $727,000 |
| 23 | 06708 | Waterbury, Connecticut | New Haven-Milford, CT | 2.0 | 21 | $301,000 |
| 24 | 93309 | Bakersfield, California | Bakersfield, CA | 2.0 | 23 | $340,000 |
| 25 | 59102 | Billings, Montana | Billings, MT | 2.4 | 30 | $410,000 |
| 26 | 75072 | McKinney, Texas | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | 2.1 | 26 | $632,000 |
| 27 | 43028 | Howard, Ohio | Mount Vernon, OH | 2.6 | 29 | $475,000 |
| 28 | 13760 | Endicott, New York | Binghamton, NY | 2.5 | 29 | $273,000 |
| 29 | 44805 | Ashland, Ohio | Ashland, OH | 2.4 | 29 | $217,000 |
| 30 | 48640 | Midland, Michigan | Midland, MI | 3.5 | 32 | $285,000 |
| 31 | 44903 | Mansfield, Ohio | Mansfield, OH | 2.6 | 30 | $185,000 |
| 32 | 65202 | Columbia, Missouri | Columbia, MO | 1.9 | 23 | $310,000 |
| 33 | 37415 | Chattanooga, Tennessee | Chattanooga, TN-GA | 2.1 | 28 | $450,000 |
| 34 | 04074 | Scarborough, Maine | Portland-South Portland, ME | 2.9 | 33 | $700,000 |
| 35 | 65109 | Jefferson City, Missouri | Jefferson City, MO | 2.4 | 30 | $342,000 |
| 36 | 14850 | Ithaca, New York | Ithaca, NY | 2.5 | 30 | $585,000 |
| 37 | 44691 | Wooster, Ohio | Wooster, OH | 2.5 | 32 | $247,000 |
| 38 | 08520 | Hightstown, New Jersey | Trenton-Princeton, NJ | 1.8 | 25 | $491,000 |
| 39 | 45601 | Chillicothe, Ohio | Chillicothe, OH | 2.9 | 34 | $270,000 |
| 40 | 80920 | Colorado Springs, Colorado | Colorado Springs, CO | 1.8 | 25 | $533,000 |
| 41 | 65804 | Springfield, Missouri | Springfield, MO | 2.1 | 31 | $358,000 |
| 42 | 28277 | Charlotte, North Carolina | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | 2.0 | 30 | $623,000 |
| 43 | 44256 | Medina, Ohio | Cleveland-Elyria, OH | 3.8 | 35 | $442,000 |
| 44 | 94550 | Livermore, California | San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA | 1.8 | 27 | $1,410,000 |
| 45 | 35226 | Birmingham, Alabama | Birmingham-Hoover, AL | 1.9 | 28 | $537,000 |
| 46 | 54703 | Eau Claire, Wisconsin | Eau Claire, WI | 2.8 | 33 | $327,000 |
| 47 | 61107 | Rockford, Illinois | Rockford, IL | 2.9 | 30 | $185,000 |
| 48 | 45042 | Middletown, Ohio | Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | 2.1 | 29 | $265,000 |
| 49 | 23454 | Virginia Beach, Virginia | Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC | 1.6 | 22 | $420,000 |
| 50 | 55125 | Saint Paul, Minnesota | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 1.9 | 28 | $480,000 |
Methodology Notes:
Realtor.com’s Hottest Zip Code rankings are based on an algorithm that takes into account two aspects of the housing market: 1) market demand, as measured by unique viewers per property on Realtor.com, and 2) the pace of the market as measured by the number of days a listing remains active on Realtor.com. The hottest areas are those that have high demand from buyers, in other words, lots of unique viewers per each property, and fast-selling homes, an indicator of limited supply. Market Hotness rankings based on Realtor.com listing data from January to June 2023. The list of top zip codes is limited to one zip code per metropolitan area. Descriptive statistics in this write-up refer to June 2023 data unless otherwise noted.
