By John Dobberstein, Editor
A new report says Broken Arrow is the top city in the nation for those looking to relocate because of the city’s affordable homes, low crime and excellent schools.
A digital media company worked with moveBuddha, a website that specializes in relocation information, to conduct an analysis that ranked Broken Arrow No. 1 out of 188 cities examined.
The whole list was based off of 148,000 searches made using moveBuddha’s Moving Cost Calculator, with the search narrowed to places where homes cost less than $420,000, public schools earned an B grade or higher and where safety was scored as a B or higher.
Broken Arrow was feted for offering the most affordable homes less than $275,000. The website’s mover search data for 2024 shows a 1.88 move-in-to-move-out ratio in Broken Arrow. “That means that there are nearly two times more searches for moves in than moves out,” moveBuddha said.
moveBuddha said Broken Arrow’s median home price is 42% less than the national median. “Homes in Tulsa’s star suburb cost more than homes in the city itself, but you’ll get A-grade schools in a large district with more clubs and sports than other areas and a nationally recognized marching band,” moveBuddha said.
Edmond also made the Top 10 list on the strength of its school system rated as A+.
The study comes at a time when Broken Arrow leaders are discussing ways to encourage responsible growth. The city has added more than 80,000 residents since the early 1980s and the Broken Arrow Public School has topped 20,000 students.
In the next couple of months the City Council will be voting on the final versions of a new zoning ordinance and separate housing study that will play a major role in how the city develops.
Although the city’s housing is considered generally affordable compared to the national outlook, there are still concerns prices for new homes are out of reach for younger, new buyers. Broken Arrow is the largest city in the state that does not have a housing authority.
“At a time when the median home values across the nation are hitting record highs, mortgage rates remain incredibly high, and inflation has Americans barely able to keep their budgets, the cities where the American dream of homeownership is still alive and well deserve their moment to shine,” the study’s authors say. “Soon, there may be no safe, affordable towns with great schools.”
Here is the full report: The 16 hottest family-friendly cities people are moving to in 2024.
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