Home·Best of·Best mid-size US cities (50,000-200,000 population) The 'Goldilocks' tier — big enough for amenities, small enough to keep cost of living and commute manageable.
Mid-size cities are often where people land when big-city prices stretch too far and small-town amenities don't stretch far enough. This list ranks them by composite momentum.
Many of these are state capitals, university towns, or regional economic hubs. They tend to have more durable demand than pure suburbs.
1Bentonville, ARFayetteville-Springdale-Rogers · pop 61,79182Hot$487,573median home+4.0%home YoY 2Rockford, ILRockford · pop 147,48681Hot$180,220median home+10.0%home YoY 3Auburn, ALAuburn-Opelika · pop 83,75778Hot$417,207median home+4.0%home YoY 4Newport Beach, CALos Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim · pop 82,97078Hot$3,709,420median home+9.0%home YoY 5Rogers, ARFayetteville-Springdale-Rogers · pop 75,63978Hot$385,816median home+3.4%home YoY 6Utica, NYUtica-Rome · pop 63,66078Hot$205,924median home+9.1%home YoY 7Bristol, CTHartford-East Hartford-Middletown · pop 62,19578Hot$341,547median home+5.3%home YoY 8Fayetteville, ARFayetteville-Springdale-Rogers · pop 103,13477Rising$380,101median home+4.1%home YoY 9New Rochelle, NYNew York-Newark-Jersey City · pop 85,51277Rising$920,484median home+8.7%home YoY 10Janesville, WIJanesville-Beloit · pop 66,42877Rising$292,557median home+6.0%home YoY 11Paterson, NJNew York-Newark-Jersey City · pop 160,46376Rising$527,542median home+5.0%home YoY 12South Bend, INSouth Bend-Mishawaka · pop 103,71376Rising$194,972median home+5.7%home YoY 13Greenville, NCGreenville · pop 95,13876Rising$235,708median home+1.6%home YoY 14Champaign, ILChampaign-Urbana · pop 91,96176Rising$235,121median home+5.7%home YoY 15Racine, WIRacine · pop 78,05776Rising$215,257median home+4.8%home YoY 16New Britain, CTHartford-East Hartford-Middletown · pop 75,87176Rising$301,852median home+5.8%home YoY 17Appleton, WIAppleton · pop 75,34476Rising$302,027median home+7.4%home YoY 18West Haven, CTNew Haven-Milford · pop 55,37976Rising$361,523median home+6.5%home YoY 19Bridgeport, CTBridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk · pop 151,59975Rising$361,669median home+5.6%home YoY 20Olathe, KSKansas City · pop 149,03575Rising$437,785median home+4.5%home YoY 21Abilene, TXAbilene · pop 130,50175Rising$214,916median home+6.1%home YoY 22Waterbury, CTNew Haven-Milford · pop 115,90875Rising$280,921median home+2.9%home YoY 23Springdale, ARFayetteville-Springdale-Rogers · pop 89,36875Rising$339,383median home+3.6%home YoY 24Warner Robins, GAWarner Robins · pop 86,19975Rising$212,565median home+3.4%home YoY 25Wyoming, MIGrand Rapids-Kentwood · pop 78,55975Rising$292,642median home+3.6%home YoY 26Youngstown, OHYoungstown-Warren-Boardman · pop 59,12375Rising$71,351median home+6.6%home YoY 27Springfield, OHSpringfield · pop 58,13875Rising$190,032median home+4.7%home YoY 28Syracuse, NYSyracuse · pop 146,09774Rising$215,134median home+5.3%home YoY 29Green Bay, WIGreen Bay · pop 106,31174Rising$282,595median home+6.0%home YoY 30Carmel, INIndianapolis-Carmel-Anderson · pop 103,60674Rising$570,592median home+4.0%home YoY 31Suffolk, VAVirginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News · pop 103,10574Rising$386,146median home+2.2%home YoY 32Waukegan, ILChicago-Naperville-Elgin · pop 88,57074Rising$239,865median home+6.6%home YoY 33Warwick, RIProvidence-Warwick · pop 83,55474Rising$419,036median home+3.7%home YoY 34Bismarck, NDBismarck · pop 77,77274Rising$373,227median home+5.7%home YoY 36Westfield, INIndianapolis-Carmel-Anderson · pop 62,99474Rising$473,173median home+2.6%home YoY 37Great Falls, MTGreat Falls · pop 60,01374Rising$337,690median home+4.0%home YoY 38Plainfield, NJNew York-Newark-Jersey City · pop 56,50774Rising$511,727median home+1.8%home YoY 39Anderson, INIndianapolis-Carmel-Anderson · pop 55,85174Rising$135,908median home+3.5%home YoY 40Elkhart, INElkhart-Goshen · pop 53,69074Rising$225,802median home+5.3%home YoY 41Brownsville, TXBrownsville-Harlingen · pop 191,96773Rising$196,920median home+2.3%home YoY 42Naperville, ILChicago-Naperville-Elgin · pop 153,12473Rising$618,452median home+5.0%home YoY 43New Haven, CTNew Haven-Milford · pop 137,56273Rising$330,564median home+5.8%home YoY 44Columbia, MOColumbia · pop 130,90073Rising$323,876median home+2.7%home YoY 45Allentown, PAAllentown-Bethlehem-Easton · pop 127,13873Rising$312,103median home+3.7%home YoY 46Lawrence, KSLawrence · pop 97,27173Rising$335,513median home+3.4%home YoY 47Reading, PAReading · pop 96,00073Rising$264,716median home+2.7%home YoY 48Mount Pleasant, SCCharleston-North Charleston · pop 95,60473Rising$881,041median home+0.4%home YoY 49Franklin, TNNashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin · pop 89,14273Rising$916,079median home+1.6%home YoY 50Duluth, MNDuluth · pop 87,98673Rising$292,800median home+6.8%home YoY Sources: Zillow ZHVI, Zillow ZORI, US Census place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.