Key facts
- Single women are increasingly purchasing homes in affordable metropolitan areas across the South, Midwest, and Northeast.
- New Orleans led the list of 50 largest metro areas, with single women accounting for 17.4% of home-purchase mortgages.
- Hartford, Connecticut, and Buffalo, New York, ranked second and third, respectively.
- Nearly 360,000 single women purchased homes with mortgages nationwide in 2025.
- Affordability is a primary driver for single women choosing to buy homes.
- High-cost markets, particularly on the West Coast, ranked lowest in single female homeownership.
Single women are increasingly becoming a significant force in the housing market, particularly in more affordable metropolitan areas across the South, Midwest, and Northeast, according to a report by the Mortgage Research Network. The analysis, which utilized 2025 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data, ranked the nation's 50 largest metropolitan areas based on the percentage of home-purchase mortgages granted to women under the age of 45 who were buying independently.
New Orleans emerged as the top-ranked city, with single women securing 17.4% of all purchase loans, substantially exceeding the national average of 11.4%. Following New Orleans were Hartford, Connecticut, at 16.2%, and Buffalo, New York, at 15.5%. Other cities in the top 10 included Baltimore, Birmingham, Alabama, Memphis, Tennessee, Cleveland, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia.
Nationwide, the report indicated that nearly 360,000 single women utilized mortgages to purchase homes in 2025. Tim Lucas, the report's lead analyst, stated that affordability appears to be the primary driver for these purchasing decisions, with women increasingly opting for homeownership without delaying for a partner.
The report also highlighted a significant disparity in home prices between the highest- and lowest-ranked markets. The average home value in the top 10 metros was approximately $309,000, contrasting sharply with over $818,000 in the bottom 10 metros. High-cost West Coast markets, such as San Jose, California, which ranked last with single women accounting for only 6.5% of purchase loans, were among the lowest-performing areas.
Despite the trend towards homeownership, income remains a considerable barrier. In the highest-ranked metros, single female homebuyers typically earned significantly more than the average single woman residing in those areas. For instance, in New Orleans, the median income for a single female homebuyer was $74,000, compared to about $36,000 for single women overall. Eight of the top 10 metros were situated in the South or Midwest, regions generally characterized by lower home prices and greater inventory at entry-level price points. Pennsylvania was the only state with two cities in the top 10: Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.