10 Cities Where You'll Be In Debt For Decades

Bridget Mallon

From ELLE DECOR

Given the choice between sunny Los Angeles, California, and industrial Cleveland, Ohio, most people would probably choose to head west.

But if your own finances are more important to you than a little extra sunshine, it may be time to reconsider the Buckeye State.

Realtor.com recently released its list of cities where you can pay off your mortgage the fastest, and three Ohio cities cracked the top ten: Cleveland at number one, Columbus at number five, and Cincinnati at number eight.

On the other end of the spectrum, California is home to six of the ten cities where it will take you the longest to pay off a mortgage. Los Angeles being the worst among them.

So how big of a discrepancy is there between Cleveland and L.A.? A lot. 24 years to be exact.

According to Realtor, it would take you approximately 29.4 years to pay off a mortgage in Los Angeles, compared to only 5.4 years in Cleveland. Sorry L.A., we hear you're great, but most of us will never make enough money to afford a Hollywood home.

Cleveland, though, is still waiting on that IKEA, if that sort of thing matters to you.

Check out the full list of best cities for paying off a mortgage (and the worst cities) below.

Best Cities For Paying Off Your Mortgage:


  1. Cleveland, Ohio

  2. Rochester, New York

  3. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  4. Buffalo, New York

  5. Columbus, Ohio

  6. St. Louis, Missouri

  7. Indianapolis, Indiana

  8. Cincinnati, Ohio

  9. Detroit, Michigan

  10. Kansas City, Missouri

Worst Cities For Paying Off Your Mortgage:


  1. Los Angeles, California

  2. San Jose, California

  3. San Francisco, California

  4. San Diego, California

  5. Denver, Colorado

  6. Miami, Florida

  7. Portland, Oregon

  8. Riverside, California

  9. Sacramento, California

  10. Austin, Texas