21 of the most affordable zip codes to raise a family in the US

A neighborhood with high-quality schools and affordable homes sounds like the ideal place to raise a family, but it's not easy to come by.

Luckily, HomeUnion, an online real estate investment management firm, recently dug into its database of more than 200,000 neighborhoods to find out which US zip codes fit the bill.

To compile its list, HomeUnion analyzed the 50 largest US metros to find the one zip code in each with the lowest median sale price for single-family homes sold between late 2016 and early 2017. From there, they sourced Maponics, which ranks public schools based on average math and reading scores, to find the most affordable zip codes that also have an average school rating in the 80th percentile or higher. Metros with zip codes that had no school ratings above 80 were eliminated entirely, including New York City.

"As home prices continue to increase in many coastal markets, particularly in the Western US, we are seeing the best opportunities for first-time home buyers with families in the center of the country," said Steve Hovland, director of research for HomeUnion, of the company's findings.

Below, check out 21 of the best places to raise a family, ranked by median home sale price. Each zip code's metro and average school rating are included as well.

All photos feature the metro area the zip code is a part of.

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