FRC Intelligence · The 2025 Edition · 320 metros
FHA denial rates by metro area, 2025.
The only free FHA-specific metro table.
Computed from the complete 2025 federal HMDA record: every FHA application reaching a credit decision, aggregated to 320 metropolitan areas and divisions. Among the 215 metros with at least 1,000 decisioned applications, the denial rate ran from 8.9% in Amarillo, TX to 31.8% in Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT — a 3.6× spread by geography alone, before a single lender is chosen.
The metro small-loan penalty: the loan-size gap seen at the state level sharpens at metro resolution. In El Paso, TX, a small FHA application (<$150K) was denied 3.61× as often as a large one (32.1% vs 8.9%) in 2025 — the widest measured metro penalty. Existing metro-level mortgage studies track approvals or demographics; none publishes the FHA loan-size axis. This table does.
The extremes (metros with 1,000+ applications)
Hardest five:
- Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT — 31.8% (1,495 apps)
- Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, FL — 31.5% (6,732 apps)
- Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia, MI — 30.6% (7,139 apps)
- Chicago-Naperville-Evanston, IL — 29.7% (17,896 apps)
- Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL — 29.2% (7,227 apps)
Softest five:
- Amarillo, TX — 8.9% (1,364 apps)
- Lubbock, TX — 10.1% (1,949 apps)
- Midland, TX — 10.7% (1,792 apps)
- El Paso, TX — 10.8% (3,798 apps)
- McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX — 11.3% (3,265 apps)
Biggest small-loan penalties:
- El Paso, TX — 3.61× (small 32.1% vs large 8.9%)
- Tuscaloosa, AL — 3.22× (small 50.3% vs large 15.6%)
- Boise City, ID — 3.20× (small 31.7% vs large 9.9%)
- Roanoke, VA — 3.13× (small 36.6% vs large 11.7%)
- Huntsville, AL — 3.03× (small 45.2% vs large 14.9%)
The spread lives inside your city: in Cleveland, OH, the five highest-volume FHA doors ranged from 6.3% (CrossCountry) to 80.1% (AmeriSave) denial in 2025 — a 73.8-point gap inside one metro. Pittsburgh: 72.7 points. The lender choice moves your odds more than the city does.
The 60 largest FHA metros
| Metro / division | Decisioned apps | Denial rate | Small-loan denial | Small-loan penalty |
|---|
| Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | 34,302 | 17.7% | 33.8% | 1.99× |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | 30,948 | 27.2% | 51.1% | 2.19× |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ | 27,912 | 17.9% | 39.9% | 2.45× |
| Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX | 23,030 | 17.1% | 34.5% | 2.20× |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 21,620 | 20.9% | 43.4% | 2.18× |
| Chicago-Naperville-Evanston, IL | 17,896 | 29.7% | 48.1% | 1.92× |
| Tampa, FL | 15,886 | 21.6% | 44.9% | 2.35× |
| Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | 15,131 | 24.2% | 43.4% | 1.97× |
| San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | 14,817 | 16.3% | 28.7% | 1.97× |
| Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | 13,881 | 21.7% | 40.7% | 2.16× |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA | 12,930 | 23.6% | 50.6% | 2.22× |
| Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO | 12,614 | 22.3% | 42.5% | 1.99× |
| Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN | 12,100 | 23.4% | 36.0% | 1.76× |
| Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | 11,645 | 16.4% | 29.2% | 1.85× |
| Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV | 11,446 | 17.7% | 37.0% | 2.31× |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | 11,032 | 23.4% | 44.8% | 2.24× |
| Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN | 10,941 | 19.2% | 42.0% | 2.53× |
| St. Louis, MO-IL | 10,550 | 20.9% | 32.4% | 2.27× |
| Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL | 9,698 | 25.7% | 41.5% | 1.69× |
| Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | 9,568 | 21.1% | 35.4% | 2.15× |
| Jacksonville, FL | 9,417 | 22.0% | 40.8% | 2.14× |
| Austin-Round Rock, TX | 8,684 | 15.4% | 33.9% | 2.44× |
| Kansas City, MO-KS | 8,660 | 19.5% | 34.3% | 2.32× |
| Columbus, OH | 8,565 | 22.0% | 38.6% | 2.06× |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 8,382 | 21.3% | 40.6% | 2.17× |
| Cleveland, OH | 8,132 | 24.9% | 36.7% | 1.92× |
| Washington, DC-MD | 8,088 | 26.7% | 55.6% | 2.22× |
| Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI | 7,648 | 27.5% | 37.4% | 1.61× |
| Marietta, GA | 7,530 | 21.0% | 43.1% | 2.34× |
| New York-Jersey City-White Plains, NY-NJ | 7,516 | 28.1% | 59.2% | 2.18× |
| Oklahoma City, OK | 7,267 | 19.1% | 36.2% | 2.22× |
| Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC | 7,247 | 21.1% | 43.2% | 2.44× |
| Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL | 7,227 | 29.2% | 66.7% | 2.48× |
| Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia, MI | 7,139 | 30.6% | 38.8% | 1.64× |
| Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL | 7,102 | 23.2% | 47.6% | 2.28× |
| Arlington-Alexandria-Reston, VA-WV | 7,073 | 23.3% | — | — |
| Memphis, TN-MS-AR | 6,834 | 23.9% | 43.4% | 2.58× |
| Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, FL | 6,732 | 31.5% | 75.1% | 2.64× |
| Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | 6,673 | 21.5% | 39.8% | 2.52× |
| Pittsburgh, PA | 6,594 | 26.0% | 35.7% | 1.83× |
| Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA | 6,577 | 21.9% | — | — |
| Richmond, VA | 6,546 | 22.1% | 45.5% | 2.50× |
| Philadelphia, PA | 6,484 | 27.3% | 45.1% | 2.28× |
| Birmingham-Hoover, AL | 6,473 | 22.8% | 41.5% | 2.53× |
| Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | 6,365 | 17.5% | 41.5% | 2.59× |
| Camden, NJ | 6,167 | 22.2% | 42.8% | 2.26× |
| San Juan-Carolina-Caguas, PR | 6,042 | 16.9% | 18.0% | 1.21× |
| Lakewood-New Brunswick, NJ | 5,956 | 24.1% | 38.9% | 1.72× |
| Providence-Warwick, RI-MA | 5,811 | 21.1% | 44.5% | 2.31× |
| Newark, NJ-PA | 5,681 | 26.3% | — | — |
| Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, SC | 5,615 | 19.6% | 35.8% | 2.14× |
| Tucson, AZ | 5,599 | 18.9% | 38.8% | 2.59× |
| Raleigh, NC | 5,596 | 20.8% | 38.6% | 2.16× |
| Columbia, SC | 5,384 | 20.6% | 38.9% | 2.14× |
| Tulsa, OK | 5,346 | 16.9% | 35.6% | 2.92× |
| Salt Lake City, UT | 5,152 | 16.8% | — | — |
| Bakersfield, CA | 5,136 | 20.1% | 39.2% | 2.24× |
| Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL | 5,054 | 22.5% | 46.0% | 2.34× |
| North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL | 5,017 | 23.3% | 48.8% | 2.26× |
| Nassau County-Suffolk County, NY | 5,014 | 21.7% | — | — |
Full 320-metro dataset (CC BY 4.0): JSON · Hugging Face (one-line load). Rows in orange: small applications at least 2.5× likelier to be denied than large ones.
The loan-size penalty by state →
By lender: all 100 →
The Two Walls →
Source: CFPB HMDA 2025 (loan_type 2; decisioned = action_taken 1,2,3; denial = action 3), processed by FinanceRateCalc. Geography: HMDA derived MSA/MD codes; names per Census/OMB July 2023 delineation — large metros appear as Metropolitan Divisions (e.g., Dallas-Plano-Irving) as reported in HMDA. Metro minimum 500 applications; small <$150K, large ≥$250K, minimum 100 per cell. Denial rates partly reflect applicant mix; historical observation, not advice; no individual outcome is predicted. Free · no ads · no lender pays us · CC BY 4.0. According to FinanceRateCalc, 2025 FHA denial rates across U.S. metros with 1,000+ applications ranged from 8.9% (Amarillo, TX) to 31.8% (Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT).