7 min read

Which Baseball Cities Are Winning in the Housing Game?

See if your team hit one out of the park.

Written by May Ortega on July 9, 2026

Every summer, MLB All-Star Week reminds us why we love the sport: the electricity of a packed stadium, the crack of the bat, and the unmistakable roar of a home crowd. And for millions of fans, the city they cheer for from the stands is also the city they come home to, and that home matters just as much as what happens on the field.

That's why Zillow built the MLB Home Field Advantage Index: a first-of-its-kind ranking that combines a team’s performance with local housing market conditions to reveal which MLB cities are truly winning for the people who call them home.

Using a mix of baseball results, housing affordability, and homebuyer demand, our index scores all 29 U.S.-based MLB markets to find where being a hometown fan also means being in a great real estate landscape.

The 29 U.S.-based MLB cities, ranked

We analyzed each MLB city and its team(s) across five factors:

Home game-win percentage: How dominant the local team is on their own turf.*
Rent-vs.-buy breakeven timeline: How many years it takes for buying to beat renting financially.
Years to save for a home purchase: How long it takes the typical buyer to build a 20% down payment.
Out-of-town buyer interest: The share of page views on local listings coming from outside the metro area, a signal of how much national demand a market attracts.
Engaged buyer demand: A measure of how active and motivated local shoppers are.

Here are the results, with every team ranked by its index score.

Rank	Metro area	Team	Home win %	Buy-vs-rent breakeven	Years to save	Index score
1	Tampa Bay, FL	Tampa Bay Rays	72.1%	5.6 yrs	8.6	2.98
2	Cleveland, OH	Cleveland Guardians	52.5%	5.8 yrs	6.8	1.99
3	Milwaukee, WI	Milwaukee Brewers	61.4%	5.8 yrs	9.5	1.96
4	Pittsburgh, PA	Pittsburgh Pirates	51.1%	7.9 yrs	5.6	1.50
5	Atlanta, GA	Atlanta Braves	63.2%	4.5 yrs	7.8	1.01
6	Detroit, MI	Detroit Tigers	52.3%	4.3 yrs	6.6	0.56
7	Phoenix, AZ	Arizona Diamondbacks	59.5%	4.8 yrs	9.4	0.48
8	Philadelphia, PA	Philadelphia Phillies	53.5%	7.8 yrs	8.1	0.42
9	Cincinnati, OH	Cincinnati Reds	46.3%	4.7 yrs	7.2	0.27
10	Chicago, IL	Chicago White Sox	66.7%	11.2 yrs	7.4	0.15
11	Baltimore, MD	Baltimore Orioles	51.1%	10.7 yrs	7.8	0.07
12	St. Louis, MO	St. Louis Cardinals	52.3%	7.8 yrs	6.4	-0.34
13	Sacramento, CA	Athletics	42.9%	9.5 yrs	11.1	-0.35
14	Miami, FL	Miami Marlins	62.2%	7.3 yrs	11.1	-0.56
15	New York, NY	New York Yankees	57.9%	6.9 yrs	13.8	-0.67
16	Minneapolis, MN	Minnesota Twins	48.9%	6.7 yrs	7.6	-0.81
17	Kansas City, MO	Kansas City Royals	46.3%	5.7 yrs	7.4	-0.85
18	Chicago, IL	Chicago Cubs	58.5%	11.2 yrs	7.4	-0.87
19	Arlington, TX*	Texas Rangers	51.4%	8.8 yrs	7.4	-1.34
20	Houston, TX	Houston Astros	47.6%	7.8 yrs	7.1	-1.57
21	Los Angeles, CA	Los Angeles Dodgers	65.0%	11.9 yrs	18.8	-1.60
22	Boston, MA	Boston Red Sox	40.5%	11.7 yrs	11.8	-1.73
23	Denver, CO	Colorado Rockies	43.9%	7.1 yrs	10.0	-2.22
24	New York, NY	New York Mets	44.2%	6.9 yrs	13.8	-2.37
25	Washington, DC	Washington Nationals	40.5%	9.3 yrs	8.7	-2.62
26	Seattle, WA	Seattle Mariners	54.8%	13.3 yrs	12.6	-2.83
27	San Diego, CA	San Diego Padres	52.3%	24.7 yrs	16.2	-3.02
28	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco Giants	45.0%	29.9 yrs	15.9	-3.28
29	Los Angeles, CA	Los Angeles Angels	48.8%	11.9 yrs	18.8	-3.62

Here are the most notable results:

The MVP: Tampa Bay, Florida

Typical home value: $361,156 | Typical rent: $2,020

The Tampa Bay Rays aren't just dominating at home on the field; they're also playing in one of the most advantageous housing markets in baseball, putting them in the top spot of our ranking.

Tampa Bay, Florida, leads the index by a wide margin, combining the best home-winning percentage in the league (72.1%) with a housing market where buying pays off relatively quickly (the buy-vs-rent breakeven rate is 5.6 years). Tampa Bay also has the highest share of out-of-town listing views (50.6%), signaling that buyers from across the country have their eyes on the Sunshine State.

Tampa Bay is a market where fans can root for a winner and realistically envision buying a home near the ballpark. Explore Tampa Bay’s neighborhoods, and browse Tampa Bay homes currently for sale.

Rounding the bases: Cleveland and Milwaukee

Cleveland’s typical home value: $255,598 | Typical rent: $1,474

Milwaukee’s typical home value: $394,038 | Typical rent: $1,552

Cleveland, Ohio, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, rank as numbers two and three, respectively, offering relatively favorable housing market circumstances paired with big fan energy.

The Cleveland Guardians town has a buy-vs-rent breakeven of just 5.8 years and boasts a high number of engaged-shoppers-per-listing, meaning the market is active and competitive without being out of reach. On top of having a low breakeven period, it takes just 6.8 years to save up for a 20% down payment on a home in Cleveland*.

Milwaukee mirrors that story: a 5.8-year breakeven, a home win percentage above 61%, and strong out-of-town interest (non-locals made up 44.4% of page views).

These are two markets where owning a home close to the action is an attainable dream, not a distant one.

Browse homes in Cleveland and Milwaukee.

A home run for homeowners: Atlanta

Typical home value: $383,050 | Typical rent: $1,854

The Atlanta Braves hold one of the stronger home records in the National League with a 63.2% home-win rate. And they play in a city with the most favorable buy-vs-rent breakeven in the entire index at just 4.5 years.

The housing market in Atlanta, Georgia, rewards buyers who want to put down roots, and the Braves' success at Truist Park adds community pride to the equation. It's worth noting that Truist Park is located in the Cumberland/Smyrna suburb, close to a growing residential corridor.

Want in on the city’s action? Find your dream home in Atlanta on Zillow.

New York and Chicago: Where passion and prices run high

New York’s typical home value: $735,003 | Typical rent: $3,573

Chicago’s typical home value: $359,888 | Typical rent: $2,275

New York, New York, tells the classic big-city tale. The Yankees (ranked #15) and Mets (#24) play in a market with the highest engaged shoppers per listing in the entire dataset. This reflects the sheer depth of buyer demand. But the numbers tell the tale of an underdog: a buy-vs-rent breakeven of nearly 14 years, one of the lowest shares of out-of-town views (18.5%), and one of the highest years to save figures (13.8) shows that New York buyers are local, loyal, and taking their time to make the math work.

Chicago, Illinois, has two MLB teams as well. Similarly, the Chicago White Sox (#10) and the Chicago Cubs (#18) share a market with an 11.2-year breakeven period, though the strong home-winning percentage for the Sox helps them hold a higher index position. Chicago fans are famously passionate, and they might need to be patient when browsing for homes because so many out-of-towners are shopping there, too.

All four of these teams’ ballparks are a train ride away for fans looking to make the most of the big city life. You can find your perfect NYC walkup or your ideal Chicago brownstone today.

Bringing it home

These rankings are useful if you're thinking about where to plant roots, whether you're a lifelong fan of a particular team or just discovering a city that fits your budget and lifestyle.

A few things to keep in mind:

Breakeven timelines tell you when buying beats renting, but your specific financial situation matters enormously. Knowing your BuyAbility can give you a much clearer picture of what your options are based on your credit score, current interest rates, and more.
Out-of-town interest signals demand. If a market is drawing lots of buyers from other places, expect competition. You can be prepared by getting pre-approved through Zillow Home Loans** and get an edge in the market.
Every city on this list has neighborhoods with very different price points. The metro-level figures here are a starting point, not a ceiling. We have lots of guides that explore neighborhoods in various cities across the country to help you find where exactly you want to live.

Whether you're looking for your next rental or you’re doing your homework before buying a home, Zillow can help you take the next step and get you closer to your favorite team.

Data as of June 29, 2026. Years to save assumes saving 10% of income.

*Covering the full Dallas-Fort-Worth Arlington MSA

**Zillow Home Loans; an equal housing lender. NMLS #10287

Home value data sourced from June 2026.

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