David Hopkin hailed the “fantastic” efforts of his Bantams following a comfortable 2-0 victory over Scunthorpe United.
Jack Payne opened the scoring on 10 minutes and an Eoin Doyle penalty, on the half-hour mark, doubled the hosts’ tally.
City held firm and sealed their success to go 20th on the league ladder, moving them out of the relegation zone for the first time since October.
City’s latest Sky Bet League One triumph - their third in a row on home soil - left the Bantams manager delighted.
Hopkin said: “The players were magnificent yet again. It was a fantastic performance and it is good to go into Christmas outside of the bottom four.
“To win three home league games in a row is a remarkable achievement considering where we were at a couple of months ago.
“I challenged the players a few weeks ago to be off of the bottom by this point - and they have done that.
“There is great togetherness throughout the squad. Everybody is starting to believe in themselves and what we are trying to do.
“Things are starting to turn and you can feel the good feeling throughout the whole club, from the players to the staff.
“It is a fantastic achievement to have climbed out of the relegation zone and we will look to keep building in order to move up the league.”
Ryan McGowan and Eoin Doyle – the scorer of City’s second goal – returned to City’s starting 11, replacing injured skipper Anthony O’Connor (foot) and Kelvin Mellor (knee), as Paul Caddis took over the captain’s armband.
Despite the disruption to the Bantams’ backline, Hopkin’s men were able to record another clean sheet at the Northern Commercials Stadium.
The City boss added: “Jack’s early goal settled everybody down and allowed us to continue expressing ourselves.
“Paul Caddis took the armband and was outstanding, as he has been since he came in.
“It was a shame to lose Anthony during the week but Ryan McGowan came in and defended very well for us. We are delighted with the clean sheet.
“Credit to the players for taking hold of the game and getting us the result.
“Now we will travel to Sunderland - after a good rest - and look to get a similar result.”
More than 500 seats are available at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light for City’s Boxing Day outing.
These tickets can be purchased at the turnstiles, with over 2,200 Bantams supporters already set to make the trip.