Best Toronto neighbourhoods for a First-Time Homebuyer

Where can someone buying their first home actually afford to look, without giving up daily-life basics? 91 of 158 Toronto neighbourhoods qualify, top 25 shown. Updated 2026.

How this ranking is built
Requirements
  • Median assessed value at or below the citywide median

Affordability is treated as a requirement, not a preference: a neighbourhood priced above the citywide median is excluded from this page no matter how it scores elsewhere. Assessed value is a municipal proxy for market price, so treat the line as approximate.

91 of 158 neighbourhoods qualify, 67 excluded.

Then ranked on
affordability30%safety20%value growth15%grocery access15%transit access10%climate10%

These weights are our judgment about what this situation usually calls for, not a fact about the city. They are published here so you can disagree with them.

Your priorities may differ. Re-rank these for me
1
North St.James Town
89 affordability95 grocery access46 safety

Trade-off: safety at 46 out of 100.

No data for value growth. Scored on the 85% of factors we have.

76
2
Church-Wellesley
80 affordability97 grocery access97 transit access

Trade-off: safety at 41 out of 100.

No data for value growth. Scored on the 85% of factors we have.

74
3
Regent Park
78 affordability93 grocery access50 safety

No data for value growth. Scored on the 85% of factors we have.

73
4
Bay-Cloverhill
71 affordability97 grocery access48 safety

Trade-off: safety at 48 out of 100.

No data for value growth. Scored on the 85% of factors we have.

72
5
Downtown Yonge East
80 affordability100 grocery access98 transit access

Trade-off: safety at 31 out of 100.

No data for value growth. Scored on the 85% of factors we have.

72
6
Moss Park
78 affordability99 grocery access98 transit access

Trade-off: safety at 33 out of 100.

No data for value growth. Scored on the 85% of factors we have.

71
7
Wellington Place
81 affordability98 grocery access88 transit access

Trade-off: safety at 32 out of 100.

No data for value growth. Scored on the 85% of factors we have.

71
8
West Queen West
72 affordability92 grocery access58 safety

No data for value growth. Scored on the 85% of factors we have.

71
9
South Eglinton-Davisville
72 affordability68 safety76 grocery access

No data for value growth. Scored on the 85% of factors we have.

70
10
Mount Dennis
83 affordability57 safety62 grocery access

No data for value growth. Scored on the 85% of factors we have.

69
11
Taylor-Massey
84 affordability70 grocery access42 safety

Trade-off: safety at 42 out of 100.

No data for value growth. Scored on the 85% of factors we have.

69
12
Yonge-Bay Corridor
72 affordability99 grocery access99 transit access

Trade-off: safety at 31 out of 100.

No data for value growth. Scored on the 85% of factors we have.

69
13
North Toronto
83 affordability77 grocery access53 safety

Trade-off: transit access at 49 out of 100.

No data for value growth. Scored on the 85% of factors we have.

68
14
Caledonia-Fairbank
63 affordability66 safety81 grocery access

No data for value growth. Scored on the 85% of factors we have.

67
15
Harbourfront-CityPlace
78 affordability94 grocery access42 safety

Trade-off: safety at 42 out of 100.

No data for value growth. Scored on the 85% of factors we have.

67
16
Keelesdale-Eglinton West
73 affordability58 safety70 grocery access

No data for value growth. Scored on the 85% of factors we have.

67
17
Kensington-Chinatown
70 affordability98 grocery access89 transit access

Trade-off: safety at 32 out of 100.

No data for value growth. Scored on the 85% of factors we have.

67
18
Fort York-Liberty Village
78 affordability89 grocery access37 safety

Trade-off: safety at 37 out of 100.

No data for value growth. Scored on the 85% of factors we have.

66
19
Oakwood Village
58 affordability69 safety81 grocery access

No data for value growth. Scored on the 85% of factors we have.

66
20
St Lawrence-East Bayfront-The Islands
74 affordability94 grocery access76 transit access

Trade-off: safety at 34 out of 100.

No data for value growth. Scored on the 85% of factors we have.

66
21
Woodbine-Lumsden
53 affordability72 safety71 grocery access

No data for value growth. Scored on the 85% of factors we have.

66
22
Oakridge
82 affordability58 grocery access81 transit access

Trade-off: safety at 37 out of 100.

No data for value growth. Scored on the 85% of factors we have.

65
23
Rockcliffe-Smythe
73 affordability47 safety62 grocery access

Trade-off: safety at 47 out of 100.

No data for value growth. Scored on the 85% of factors we have.

65
24
Weston-Pelham Park
58 affordability83 grocery access50 safety

No data for value growth. Scored on the 85% of factors we have.

64
25
Briar Hill-Belgravia
75 affordability73 grocery access37 safety

Trade-off: safety at 37 out of 100.

No data for value growth. Scored on the 85% of factors we have.

63

Frequently asked

What is the best Toronto neighbourhood for a First-Time Homebuyer?
On this ranking, North St.James Town leads at 76 out of 100, driven by affordability, grocery access, safety. Church-Wellesley and Regent Park follow. There is no single best neighbourhood: this is the ranking that falls out of the priorities published above, and different priorities give a different order.
How is the First-Time Homebuyer ranking calculated?
First, 158 Toronto neighbourhoods are filtered against a requirement: median assessed value at or below the citywide median. 67 were excluded on that basis. The remainder are scored on a weighted blend of affordability 30%, safety 20%, value growth 15%, grocery access 15%, transit access 10%, climate 10%, using population-weighted dissemination-area data. The weighting is our editorial judgment about what this situation usually calls for, published here so you can disagree with it and re-rank on your own priorities.
What data is missing from this ranking?
Scores are computed only where the underlying data exists. A factor with no data for a neighbourhood is dropped from that neighbourhood's average rather than scored as zero, and each row states which factors were unavailable. Neighbourhoods with data for less than half their weighted factors are not ranked at all.
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