The folks at Mortgage Research Center (MRC) are sharing some love for the Quad Cities this Valentine’s Day by ranking Davenport No. 2 on its list of the most affordable places in the nation for couples who want to become homeowners.
MortgageResearch.com publishes housing and mortgage market and educational news from independent journalists, analysts and industry experts, It is the parent company of Veterans United Home Loans.
“Couples have serious advantages over singles when buying a home. Dual incomes might make owning a home possible this Valentine’s Day,” Tim Lucas, MRC’s lead analyst, wrote in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day. “With homeownership increasingly becoming out of reach for many, dual incomes are becoming almost a necessity in today’s housing market.”
In fact, Mr. Lucas said, across the country, singles under 35 are struggling to qualify for mortgages for median-priced homes. And they’re not alone. He also pointed to a recent Redfin survey that said nearly 70% of single, divorced or separated people struggle to make their monthly mortgage payments.
That’s bad news for singles. How bad?
“According to our research, the average income of a single person under 35 would qualify for a mortgage payment in only one city out of the top 100 analyzed – Peoria, Illinois,” Mr. Lucas said.
At an average monthly dual income of $5,779 a month and median home price of $144,900, and a housing payment at 19% of dual income, Peoria topped the list, MRC said.
Davenport by the numbers
The Davenport-Moline-Rock Island bistate metro area, however, came in a close second. It’s dual monthly income is $6,176, median home price of $199,575, and monthly housing payment percentage at 24.4%.
The other nearby area to crack the top 10 was Rockford, Illinois. Rounding out the rest of the 10 markets where dual incomes made the biggest difference for would-be homebuyers were Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Detroit, Michigan; Beaumont, Texas; South Bend, Indiana; St. Louis, Missouri; Buffalo, New York; and Syracuse, New York.
This latest best cities ranking of Davenport closely follows the city being ranked No. 43 on U.S. News & World Report’s annual list of 150 best cities in the nation. Davenport also placed well ahead of Des Moines on that list. It dropped to No. 55 in U.S. News 2025-2026 Best Places to Live rankings. Davenport also has been included on top places for millennials to live (in 2022) and best cities for remote workers (2022) lists.
In its Top 10 ranking of Cities to Buy a Home as a Couple, MRC said this about Davenport:
“In this city of around 100,000 people, buying a home would require an estimated 24% of a couple’s income. But with home prices under $200,000, coming up with a 10% down payment (the amount used in our methodology) isn’t insurmountable.
“But what about the city’s culture? Is it a solid area for young couples? DataUSA reports a median age of 37.4, just a year higher than Los Angeles. Couples under 35 might feel right at home even if they are coming from a bigger city.”
Methodology explained
For all 100 cities ranked in this MRC analysis, the key takeaway is that a double-income makes all the difference for homebuyers in today’s housing market.
“As a dual-income couple, your buying power skyrockets, especially geographically,” Mr. Lucas wrote. “Buying a home together makes it possible for couples to qualify in 45 cities using the same metrics.”
To reach its conclusions, MRC analysts compared 196 U.S. metro areas on median home prices and U.S. Census bureau income data for people under the age of 35.
To find the 10 Best Cities Couples to Buy a Home, analysts started with 196 metros across the U.S. They used income data from the Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS). MRC narrowed the list to the top 100 by population, and used the median listing price for each metro from Realtor.com data.
A full explanation of MRC’s analysis and methodology can be found here.
