The median age of a first-time homebuyer in 2019 was 33 years old, three years older than a decade prior. As more Americans delay homeownership, SmartAsset crunched the numbers to see how long it takes to save for the upfront costs of a home, including a down payment and closing costs, in the 15 largest U.S. cities.

While a 20% down payment is preferable - as it lowers the monthly home payment, avoids costly mortgage insurance and likely locks in the lowest available interest rate - many homeowners are putting less than 20% down. As a result, we uncovered the amount of time it would take to save for homeownership, considering both a 10% and 20% down payment.

Across the 15 largest cities, San Diego ranks fifth-highest for the estimated time to homeownership. SmartAsset’s analysis shows that the average household in San Diego could afford the upfront costs of buying a home in 7.56 years if putting down 20% on the median-valued home and paying average closing costs. Alternately, if they put down only 10%, the average household could achieve homeownership in just under four years.