Not much has changed in the past 40 years in terms of equal pay for equal work. Women continue to earn 81% of what men earn, according to the latest figures from US Census Bureau.
Despite this disparity, women are increasingly becoming homeowners. Women make up for this 19% wage disparity by taking on more risk than men when they buy relative to their income and they choose cities where lenders are more women-friendly.
Here are the 10 top city choices for women buyers, according to SmartAsset, a personal finance website.
- Ithaca NY – Men took out 2.7% larger mortgage loans than women in Ithaca, the lowest percentage difference in all cities popular with women homebuyers.
- Charlottesville VA – There were 585 loans taken out by men in Charlottesville in 2018 and 567 loans taken out by women. Men requesting those loans earned an average of $102,000/year and women earned an average of $$79,000/year in Charlottesville.
- The Villages FL – 359 loans for men; 346 loans for women; top retirement spot for both women and men with nearly equal loan averages for each sex.
- Santa Fe NM – More than 8% more men than women applied for mortgage loans here.
- Rochester MN – One of the best cities for working women in terms of compensation; 9% more men than women applied for mortgage loans here.
- Durham- Chapel Hill NC – 9% more men than women bought homes here in 2018.
- Gainesville FL – Women and men applied for comparable mortgage amounts in Gainesville though 12% more men applied for mortgage loans.
- Philadelphia PN – 13% more men than women applied for mortgage loans in Philadelphia; men make more money here and buy more house with that money.
- Salisbury MD/DL – Salisbury has the lowest income disparity between women and men; 14% more men buy homes here than women.
- Napa – Women and men apply for mortgage loans here fairly equally but men apply for much larger loans.
Other women-friendly lenders are located in Tallahassee FL, Hot Springs ARK, Santa Rosa CA, Elmira NY and Springfield IL.
In all these cities listed above, save Ithaca, men without co-signers bought homes three times as much as women without co-signers nationwide.
