Income Needed to Afford a Home in Every U.S. City

Zippia.com rounded up median home prices for 175 U.S. metros and the minimum income needed to afford a home. CNBC says one in 20 adults have moved in the last year, either permanently or temporarily, but skyrocketing prices are challenging home affordability. The top cities that remain out of reach for the majority of buyers are Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu, New York City, and Oakland, Calif. But some less dense cities, such as Toledo, Ohio, only require a minimum income of $17,700 to afford a home. Average home prices here are $87,300, according to CNBC. 

The career-planning site determined monthly mortgage payments by taking the average home cost with a 30-year mortgage and a 3.9% interest rate (not including taxes, insurance and other costs). Zippia also applied the standard rule that your monthly mortgage payments should be less than 30% of your monthly income.

In the end, of the 175 cities in the report, there are only 51 where the amount needed for home ownership is below the median income in that location. (Here’s a look at Zippia’s full list.)

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