Houston and Miami had the highest mortgage denial rates among the 50 largest U.S. metro areas in 2025, with lenders turning down 18.8% of home-purchase applications in each. San Antonio (16.9%), Orlando and Detroit (16.1% each) and Birmingham (15.8%) were next. Kansas City had the lowest rate, 7.0%, followed by Minneapolis (7.4%) and Seattle and Portland (8.1%). Nationwide, 13.9% of the 4,358,716 home-purchase applications that reached a decision were denied.
Why denial rates differ
A metro's denial rate reflects who applies as much as how strict local lenders are. Lenders mostly deny for the same few reasons: debt payments too high compared with income, credit history, and not enough cash for the down payment and closing costs. Metros with more first-time buyers, more applicants with lower credit scores or a higher cost of living relative to wages tend to see more denials.
The list has a clear regional pattern. Texas and Florida metros (Houston, Miami, San Antonio, Orlando, Tampa) and several others in the South (Birmingham, New Orleans) are near the top, along with Detroit. Midwestern and Pacific Northwest metros (Kansas City, Minneapolis, Seattle, Portland, Boston, Milwaukee) are near the bottom. Denials also depend on the mix of lenders and loan types in each market, because denial rates vary widely from lender to lender. Our denial rates by lender page shows that spread.
Denial rates for the 50 largest metro areas
| Metro area | Applications decided | Denied | Denial rate | Vs. U.S. (13.9%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston | 114,095 | 21,505 | 18.8% | +4.9 pts |
| Miami | 64,281 | 12,088 | 18.8% | +4.9 pts |
| San Antonio | 45,736 | 7,724 | 16.9% | +2.9 pts |
| Detroit | 57,099 | 9,192 | 16.1% | +2.2 pts |
| Orlando | 42,991 | 6,936 | 16.1% | +2.2 pts |
| Birmingham | 18,420 | 2,902 | 15.8% | +1.8 pts |
| New Orleans | 8,480 | 1,332 | 15.7% | +1.8 pts |
| Tampa | 53,063 | 7,493 | 14.1% | +0.2 pts |
| Oklahoma City | 24,198 | 3,281 | 13.6% | -0.4 pts |
| Dallas | 119,350 | 16,029 | 13.4% | -0.5 pts |
| Austin | 39,642 | 5,324 | 13.4% | -0.5 pts |
| Jacksonville | 30,490 | 4,064 | 13.3% | -0.6 pts |
| Atlanta | 90,324 | 11,683 | 12.9% | -1.0 pts |
| Riverside | 49,583 | 6,318 | 12.7% | -1.2 pts |
| New York | 107,805 | 13,285 | 12.3% | -1.6 pts |
| Los Angeles | 70,283 | 8,518 | 12.1% | -1.8 pts |
| Memphis | 15,745 | 1,900 | 12.1% | -1.9 pts |
| Las Vegas | 33,115 | 3,885 | 11.7% | -2.2 pts |
| Louisville | 22,426 | 2,574 | 11.5% | -2.5 pts |
| San Diego | 25,365 | 2,882 | 11.4% | -2.6 pts |
| Chicago | 107,429 | 12,121 | 11.3% | -2.7 pts |
| Indianapolis | 37,073 | 4,143 | 11.2% | -2.8 pts |
| Charlotte | 48,113 | 5,364 | 11.1% | -2.8 pts |
| Cincinnati | 33,094 | 3,584 | 10.8% | -3.1 pts |
| Baltimore | 34,568 | 3,590 | 10.4% | -3.6 pts |
| Cleveland | 27,919 | 2,853 | 10.2% | -3.7 pts |
| Salt Lake City | 15,875 | 1,627 | 10.2% | -3.7 pts |
| Phoenix | 76,080 | 7,670 | 10.1% | -3.9 pts |
| Buffalo | 11,443 | 1,135 | 9.9% | -4.0 pts |
| Richmond | 19,966 | 1,941 | 9.7% | -4.2 pts |
| Sacramento | 27,553 | 2,649 | 9.6% | -4.3 pts |
| Washington | 71,922 | 6,849 | 9.5% | -4.4 pts |
| Nashville | 34,969 | 3,317 | 9.5% | -4.5 pts |
| Pittsburgh | 27,086 | 2,539 | 9.4% | -4.6 pts |
| St. Louis | 40,641 | 3,788 | 9.3% | -4.6 pts |
| Columbus | 30,277 | 2,823 | 9.3% | -4.6 pts |
| Philadelphia | 68,557 | 6,336 | 9.2% | -4.7 pts |
| San Jose | 12,976 | 1,196 | 9.2% | -4.7 pts |
| Raleigh | 26,066 | 2,332 | 8.9% | -5.0 pts |
| Providence | 17,450 | 1,513 | 8.7% | -5.3 pts |
| San Francisco | 32,200 | 2,769 | 8.6% | -5.3 pts |
| Virginia Beach | 27,522 | 2,328 | 8.5% | -5.5 pts |
| Boston | 47,705 | 3,987 | 8.4% | -5.6 pts |
| Denver | 45,609 | 3,838 | 8.4% | -5.5 pts |
| Milwaukee | 18,611 | 1,556 | 8.4% | -5.6 pts |
| Hartford | 13,245 | 1,105 | 8.3% | -5.6 pts |
| Seattle | 47,055 | 3,813 | 8.1% | -5.8 pts |
| Portland | 29,994 | 2,442 | 8.1% | -5.8 pts |
| Minneapolis | 52,277 | 3,882 | 7.4% | -6.5 pts |
| Kansas City | 33,253 | 2,319 | 7.0% | -7.0 pts |
Home-purchase loans, all property and loan types, first and second liens. Denial rate = applications denied ÷ (loans originated + approved but not accepted + denied). Withdrawn and incomplete files are left out. The 50 metro areas are the largest by population; rates are our calculation.
How we handled metro boundaries
The 2025 HMDA data uses the metro area definitions the Office of Management and Budget issued in 2023. Under those rules, 13 of the metro areas on this list, including Atlanta, Tampa and Washington, D.C., are split into metropolitan divisions, and HMDA reports applications only by division. Looking up the old metro code for Atlanta (12060), Tampa (45300) or Washington (47900) therefore returns no loans. For those 13 metros we added up all their divisions: for example, Atlanta is the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell (12054) and Marietta (31924) divisions, and Tampa is the Tampa (45294) and St. Petersburg-Clearwater-Largo (41304) divisions. Cleveland's code also changed, to 17410. The CSV lists the codes used for every metro.
The split shows big differences inside a metro. Within Miami, the Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall division had a denial rate of 21.2%. Within Detroit, the Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia division had 18.9%. State-level rates are on our denial rates by state page.
Source
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and FFIEC, HMDA Data Browser, 2025 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data, loan purpose home purchase, action taken 1, 2 and 3, by metropolitan statistical area or metropolitan division, queried through the public API on October 23, 2026. U.S. government data in the public domain. Our tables are available under CC BY 4.0. Credit "My Credit Guide (mycreditguide.org)".
Steven Reynolds, "Mortgage Denial Rates by Metro Area, 2025," My Credit Guide, October 23, 2026, https://mycreditguide.org/data/mortgage-denial-rates-by-metro/.