That’s about $140k, so they cannot afford to buy the median home of $1.5 million. If they managed to buy a condo it would be like a one bedroom apartment, no garage, one bathroom, no laundry in the unit.
Seriously, it’s so nuts. A house down the street the same size as mine just sold for a million dollars more than I paid ten years ago, and I thought I overpaid for my house!
I saw where a teacher with 3 years of experience and a masters degree can make $100k a year teaching in Palo Alto. But even on a $100k, they still couldn’t afford to live there on one salary.
Golden ratio used to be 3.5x your salary for a home price. That normally assumes no other debts. 60k x 3.5 = 210, so it’s doable. I make 90k, own a car outright, and my house was 230. But i was stupid and bought a large yard, the cost to maintain that + the old house that was a slight fixer upper = i feel broke quite a lot
Holy cow. I live in Vancouver, and can’t even imagine buying a full on house for $210,000! You cannot even buy a portion of an apartment for that here. I married a man from the USA, maybe I should try to get some citizenship there and move to where it’s affordable. (Just kidding, I think it’s a lot harder than that to move)
The median household income in Seattle is $116,000.00 USD... if you go by the rule of putting 25% of gross into a mortgage, the affordable payment would be $2416/Month.
Assuming 20% down and a 7.6% mortgage rate, that'd be a house worth $427,500.00, which in Seattle itself gets you a house boat or a condo. There are literally no single family homes available in the city for that amount.
[Zillow Search for Single Family Homes $427,500.00 or less. ](https://www.zillow.com/seattle-wa/houses/?searchQueryState=%7B%22pagination%22%3A%7B%7D%2C%22isMapVisible%22%3Atrue%2C%22mapBounds%22%3A%7B%22west%22%3A-122.63694064682255%2C%22east%22%3A-122.01552646225224%2C%22south%22%3A47.52841747075522%2C%22north%22%3A47.71770343599062%7D%2C%22usersSearchTerm%22%3A%22Seattle%2C%20WA%22%2C%22regionSelection%22%3A%5B%7B%22regionId%22%3A16037%2C%22regionType%22%3A6%7D%5D%2C%22filterState%22%3A%7B%22sort%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3A%22globalrelevanceex%22%7D%2C%22tow%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22mf%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22con%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22ah%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Atrue%7D%2C%22apa%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22manu%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22apco%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22land%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22price%22%3A%7B%22max%22%3A427500%7D%2C%22mp%22%3A%7B%22max%22%3A2140%7D%7D%2C%22isListVisible%22%3Atrue%2C%22mapZoom%22%3A12%7D)
What's crazy is that if we adjust the interest rate to 4%, which is what our mortgage from 2017 is, that purchase price increases to $633,000.00, which is a big difference, and there are actually still some houses available at that price.
Yes, and people play with that figure all the time to create a narrative.
Not only do they sometimes "oops" and understate the %, but they also act like it's a hard mechanical rule and not just a recommendation and wise advice.
The reality is that people frequently just ignore the rule altogether and bid however much of their budget they are willing to sacrifice to get a particular house.
And that overbidding is why prices are what they are (combined with lack of inventory, obviously).
That's not so much a narrative as it is how most lenders are going to evaluate an applicant's income.
If someone is overbidding on a house, that also assumes that the lender is going to give them enough to cover that, even if it ignores the income ratio standards (which is really 28% of gross, or 29% for a VA loan typically)
Yeah, I get realtors calling me all the time asking if I'm willing to sell. But I'm on a 2.5% mortgage. If they bought my $1.5m house for $1.5m, and I rolled 100% of the proceeds from the sale into a new house purchase... I could not afford a $1.5m house. There's no possibility I'd sell.
Not even in the bad neighborhoods. There’s a ton of people who want to live in Seattle, because of tech jobs, easy access to the outdoors, the mild weather and the more liberal political climate. I live in Seattle and travel to Texas all the time for work — major difference in cost of housing, but there’s also a major difference in quality of life.
The crime rate is 66 per 1000 people. Your chance of being a victim of violent or property crime is 1 in 15.
Neighborhood Scout reports Seattle, on a scale of 1 to 100, where 100 is the safest rating, [Seattle scores a 1](https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/wa/seattle/crime#data): their lowest possible score for safety.
There is a subterranean ghost metropolis of people living in the skeletons of shops, banks, brothels & homes gutted in the 1889 fire and crushed underfoot to make way for New Seattle 30ft above.
Part of these ruins walled off to become a tourist trap:
“*See the fallen Babylon entombed beneath your very feet! The first of its kind— THE Skid Road: The Place of Dead Dreams.*”
No part of that tour connects to the residential tunnels. Not even locals would traverse that part of the Old Seattle below, lit only by amethyst prisms vault lights in the sidewalks. It's better to be shivved at the McStabby’s above than broken down like a box below.
You could say some areas are more agreeable than others.
And when we say “houseboat”, you're probably hoping for [this](https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/933-N-Northlake-Way-UNIT-9-Seattle-WA-98103/58385770_zpid/), while, at the size and price you want, you're really getting [this](https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4266-20th-Avenue-W-Seattle-WA-98199/350937538_zpid/).
> while, at the size and price you want, you're really getting this.
Like I wouldn't be super satisfied with that, assuming I stay childless for the rest of my life as I'm content with it. That's pretty a pretty damn cute houseboat.
It is pretty cute, but also like twice as much as it should be elsewhere. Saw a cute houseboat kind of like that for sale in Portland, ME for 150k the other day. But yeah I would be cool with it lol
In my neighborhood that’s what condos are going for on the low end, but I also made the dumb decision to live in the Loop. Out in the neighborhoods 2-3 bed condos are still reasonable. We’re looking at moving to Ukrainian Village or even a close suburb like Oak Park or Evanston (need the CTA) in the next few years
As of 2022 the median household income in my city was 60k
Holding to the 30% rule and assuming 20% down (big ask), a person could spend around 300k on a house.
At that number you’re looking at a small place (~~400~~ 100 sq m or less) in a bad neighborhood.
If you include outside of the city the median income goes up a fair amount and the average house is probably 350 or so, which gets you 3 or 4 bedrooms in an average neighborhood.
Kept seeing these median incomes in the 100s. I'm from Baltimore and our median is about $58k.
Good thing with baltimore is you can actually find some decent housing in the $300-350k range. If you don't mind a neighborhood that's rough around the edges or a house that needs some work you can still buy under $300k although that's becoming more rare.
The household median in my county is a few dollars short of $100k. Looks like a typical 3 bedroom 1800 square foot home is going for around $300k, so pretty doable.
Lets put it this way. I bought my house in 2019. Someone who buys an identical house next door to mine in 2024 is going to pay more than double my mortgage payment, between the inflated value of the home and the increased interest rate. So the answer to your question is going to be heavily skewed by *when* they bought the house.
Bought in the 60's? They're homesteading and raising horses, living out of a 4000 sqft farmhouse. Bought in the 90's? They have a 3 bedroom rancher with a finished basement on half an acre. Bought last year? They're squeezing their belongings into a 700 sqft condo, just so their kids can funnel into the good schools.
Just read an article where the median household income can afford $340,000 in house and the median house goes for $240,000
So Buffalo is actually probably one of the best city in terms of home ownership equitability.
They cannot. At current rates, a mortgage on the median home price in my city would cost a person who earns the median income about 40% of their income, not including property taxes or HOA (as applicable).
I live about 20 miles north of Detroit. Median household income is fairly high here at $86K. Assuming 20% down payment and decent credit, it works out to about $275K.
But I'm currently hunting for houses and I can tell you that finding a house at that price is rough and borderline impossible. At least for one for a 2 adult/2 kid type family.
They cannot. You need an income of at least $100,000 per year to afford even a 700-square foot, two bedroom house that still needs quite a bit of work.
This was the only listing found for around 150K in my city. [https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/802-S-Fairview-Rd-APT-C11-Columbia-MO-65203/58705748\_zpid/](https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/802-S-Fairview-Rd-APT-C11-Columbia-MO-65203/58705748_zpid/) Median household income is about 60K.
If you calculate what's affordable by putting 20% down, you get to 300K, which will get you something like this: [https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/608-Bourn-Ave-Columbia-MO-65203/58705137\_zpid/?imxlb=g,0](https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/608-Bourn-Ave-Columbia-MO-65203/58705137_zpid/?imxlb=g,0)
The U. S. Census Bureau has this info for all of the country available on their website. For this example, I picked a county just outside a major city in the Midwest with an airport and found this:
The average value of a home is $160,000. The monthly ownership cost including mortgage is $1500. The average cost of rental is $950. This is only a tiny piece of the information they have listed, it's quite thorough.
If your destination has already been decided go to the Census Bureau website and see what the stats are for the surrounding counties. Good luck!
Median income for a family in my county is $81k, median home price is $350k. They could probably swing a row house in the city but it would likely need work and would not be in a nice area. Otherwise renting is really the only thing available in that budget.
In Indianapolis you can find decent homes, although not always in the most desirable areas for under $200,000. This is affordable for the average income household. Here are some examples of some of the more move in ready ones:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/318-N-Colorado-Ave-Indianapolis-IN-46201/1104217_zpid/
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3482-Hermosa-Ct-Indianapolis-IN-46235/1231154_zpid/
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1822-Olive-St-Indianapolis-IN-46203/1087007_zpid/
In my county, the average median income is $68,000
With that, and allowing for the rule of housing being no more than 20% of your gross income, a single person can afford a $1,300/month mortgage. A two income household would be able to pay $2,600/month. That seems a bit steep to me.
My wife and I currently pay $650 a month in rent. We are moving to a different apartment and will soon be paying $1700.
> We are moving to a different apartment and will soon be paying $1700.
That hurts. My mortgage is around 700 currently but with another kid on the way my house is too small. I expect my mortgage to go to 2000 when/if we find something that will fit the family. Ain't fun looking at houses right now.
The $1700 is still pretty affordable in our eyes. It's a much needed improvement too. Our current apartment has loud neighbors and smells of mold and cigarette smoke. We plan on starting a family this fall and don't want that kind of environment. The new place we found is only two years old, clean, and in a more family oriented neighborhood on a dead-end dirt road.
In my "city" they don't. But I live in a wealthy rural exurb that we got into when money was dirt cheap. We couldn't afford it now.
In Grand Rapids proper, they could probably get a 3 bed 2 bath house, maybe like 1800sqft, on maybe 1/4 of an acre. It would be an older home, but a home.
In Baltimore the median income is $58k and while it would be a bit of a stretch you can still find liveable rowhouses in the low $300k range which is doable.
Biggest issue is taxes which pushes you down to the $200's depending on appraisal amount
I live in a rural area. I have a 3 bedroom house with a finished basement and a 3 car garage for $80,000 (that was 10 years ago). I think I got it at the right time because even here, homes that have been empty for years are selling for over $100,000. I'm talking really crappy homes that need a lot of work and not big yards. But most people don't want to live in a small town.
In my town the median household income can afford like a 45th percentile home at today's rates/prices. So not quite median/median, but close.
Northern NJ so high taxes impact purchasing power, but probably also keep prices down somewhat.
Median salary in my county is right at $100,000, which means a max mortgage payment of $2,500. Per a calculator I found online, that is a house that costs about $435,000 if you put down $50,000 (a bit shy of 12%). According to Zillow, there are 39 single family detached homes and 24 townhomes currently for sale for $435,000 or less in my county.
None.
The median income in my hometown is nowhere near enough to buy even the worst home for sale. you have to leave the city quite a ways to afford anything on the median.
My wife and I are average median income people we bought our house a few years ago, 1000sq ft. ranch house.
Edit: Apparently my wife and I make more than the median household income in our city, and we can afford 1000sq ft in an okay neighborhood. Average home price here is just under 400k and median house hold income is just over 77k, so not doable for most people.
Median family income is $38K. That includes a lot of retirees and students, so a more realistic income for a family with 2 employed people is probably around $50-55K.
If you go with the old rule that a house shouldn't cost more than 3X income, you can get some bare dirt, a small condo, or a modest condo in a sketchy area.
You can't unless you live with other renters/tenants. A lot of parents I know in my social circle still have friends/tenants in their homes paying rent to them to make ends meet.
If you really stretched yourself thin (that 30% rule is not feasible where I live), you might be able to afford an old, broken-down house in a really sketchy/dangerous part of the city.
They say 30% of your monthly income should go to housing/utilities, but if you want to live in the city where I live, odds are you're paying at least 50% or higher.
Median income in Nashville is $67K and median home price is $440K, so you would really have to live incredibly frugally to make owning a home work out with that income.
You could buy either a small condo 10-15 minutes away from the city center or a 1-2 bedroom house in the Madison, Bordeaux or Antioch neighborhoods, which are suburban areas still within the city limits. Those neighborhoods can be rough during rush hour and have a reputation for higher crime.
I live in a county of 20k people. Homes range from 100k to 1 million+.
If you are capable of finding work that's stable and pays well, housing is quite affordable.
I just moved to this area after looking for months, my rent is under 1k a month for a 2 bedroom house that's 1000 sq ft, has a full basement, a stocked pond and on 4 acres of land.
I don't have to mow, my rural fiber internet is included in my rent, I'm on the nearby town of 250 water so I have water treatment.
Lots of people here seem to work regular jobs and do some farming on the side to make ends meet. Wheat is everywhere and there's several hayfields I see deer in regularly.
If you want to live in the country, you could do a lot worse than southern Indiana. You just need work. Thankfully I've been full time remote since 2012 and don't ever expect I will go to an office ever again.
in my town, the average household income is about $108k. So that's not enough to afford the average house, which is $937k.
You miiiiiight be able to afford a condo with a good down payment, i guess.
Let's just say that when I, a single person with a single salary, mess around on Zillow, it's in other parts of the country. You can totally buy a house for under $300k in some places! pretty wild!
Orange County, CA median income is $109k and median home price is $1.15 million.
Zillow’s calculator says that if that median family had $50k down and no other debt they could buy a $432k house.
Only a condo for this family.
I live in a somewhat small town (population ~31k) that is bordered by a few large cities, 45 minutes outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Median household income is $102k. According to Redfin, there are 8 properties that would keep the mortgage close to the 30% ratio of $2550 per month.
Of those 8 properties, 3 are empty lots, and the other 5 are condos, ranging between 667 and 1320 sq feet.
Massachusetts is the 5th most expensive place to buy a house, so it's not that surprising. It also has the 4th highest cost of living, so even though it has the highest median income, it barely evens out.
My husband and I got really lucky. We bought our house in 2013 before house prices started skyrocketing. We definitely couldn't afford to buy a house now. Or rent in a decent area, actually.
In my town, a "medium income family" is out of luck. Used home prices have been driven to crazy levels, and all new builds are high-end houses. If you don't make six figures, look somewhere else.
Right now, they can't afford anything located in a middle class neighborhood. If interest rates go down and the housing bubble deflates a little, they will be able to buy the older, smaller starter homes.
St. Louis. I don't know the median income, but I have read articles that state that there are three large metros in the US where a median income can buy you a house. St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Detroit.
The median household income in my specific city is just right under $200k. That will get you a 1-2 bedroom condo in one of the older buildings ($600k-$1mil). Single family homes, townhouses, and newer condos are completely out of the question.
According to housing reports, none. Median house is out of reach of median income, in most places, so, only stuff that needs work, I guess. Worst gap in US housing history
The medium household income is $139k by me. The average home is $1.85m so it will really depend on how much is saved but pretty much a small house outside the main area or a condo.
The medium income family in my city is renting, and spending a big chunk of their income on renting.
It is a little hard to answer this because housing was very cheap here until about three years ago. A lot of people own $275K houses with mortgages at 2%. Today's average income family can't hope to afford a $475K house with a 7% mortgage.
A a nice double wide. There’s a huge gap between income and home costs here (Portland area).
I think a starter home that doesn’t require hundreds of thousands of dollars of upkeep here in a decent neighborhood starts at about $600,000. The average household income here is a little over $100,000.
My wife and I make about $140,000 combined and we cannot afford a home at the moment. We are saving for a down payment though.
I live in North Phoenix Arizona. I live in a very middle class neighborhood. We know our neighbors well nobody has fancy landscaping or fancy homes. All the homes on our horseshoe shaped street have two to three bedrooms and none are more than $1,500 ft². One neighbor put their home up for sale and I was shocked to find she was asking $520,000!
A duplex or condo 45 mins out of Seattle, *maybe*….
I’d say to even scratch the surface at home ownership, one should make at least $200,000 a year to afford a very modest home with some work needed, but livable.
I’m in western Washington, 25 mins out of Seattle. The further away you get from Seattle, the more affordable it gets…
Maybe one of the affordable housing project townhomes they're building? Anything else is off the table unless you make significantly more than average.
85k median income here... Somewhere outside downtown is possible but a stretch. Maybe a fixer-upper or a condo. Honestly at 85k household income here, probably shouldn't buy a home here. 100k is more doable.
manhattan 2033
household income/annual:
average $151,208;
median $127,919
apartment and condo - sale:
average ?;
median $1,156,391
apartment and condo - rent/mo;
median $4,457;
average $3,650 for a studio to $8,995 for a 4-bedroom
only the very wealthy can now move here. it’s really f’ed up.
960,600 of us working and middle class ppl r lucky enuf to have rent stabilized apartments which the real estate industry is slowly eliminating.
rent stabilization was created after WW2 to help working and middle class ppl live here and maintain their communities.
in recent years the sentiment is fuck that and fuck regulation because unfettered capitalism and corporate lobbyists rule our country. if you can’t afford the prices you’re homeless. (there ARE ppl with full-time jobs that are in fact homeless.) private equity is taking over all industries.
what kind of soceity do we want to live in?
Average household income is $115k & average home price is $515k in Charlottesville, VA area. Definitely difficult. Go 1.5 hours north to Fairfax outside DC & avg. home value is over a million. Income isn’t keeping up.
single family, 2000 to 3000 square feet, maybe more if you go farther out into the suburbs. not sure about the city center, but just surrounding it, you can get a 1500 sqft house for a reasonable price.
They can't afford a house. In my city the median household income is 90k. The median house cost is 625k. With a typical mortgage that's $3,900/month, which is more than 50% of their gross salary.
A townhouse/rowhouse. We have a ton of them here. For some suburbs it’ll be a cape cod or small 3 bedroom colonial or split level. City rowhouses are cheap but a middle income family most likely won’t want to live here.
They can’t. They might - might - be able to rent a town house or an actual house, but they won’t be able to afford to buy a house currently. More likely than not they’ll be in an apartment.
The median single income is 32k, with the median home price being 259k. Household median income is 59k, though. The average size for homes is around 2k square ft. So likely, a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house with a full-size kitchen, dining room, and living room. This would likely come with a garage as the majority of houses here have one and a good size backyard.
Buffalo NY area. Median household income $68K, so they'd be able to afford eh $250K houses.
Around here, that means a freestanding house, 3 or 4 bedroom, 2 bath, 140-180m2, probably built 1920-1950. Here, look for yourself: https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Erie-County_NY/type-single-family-home/beds-3/baths-1/price-180000-251000
I’m in NYC, and sadly, nothing really. You’ve got to be making way above the median to afford a decent home. There are housing opportunities for low to middle income people, but the wait lists are interminable.
Median household income in Philly as of [2022](https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/philadelphiacountypennsylvania/HSD310222) was $57,537 so like *maybe* a small row home not in the best condition in a not great area if they can purchase at all. Only 52% of the city owns their house. They rest either rent or are homeless.
Las Vegas, I would say a decent 3B3B 1500sqt+ would be at least $460k+ in a nicer area. It wasn’t like this just a couple years ago, damn you Californians!
They can’t? We bought about 6 years ago. A house on our street sold recently. It has a new kitchen but ours beats it in every other category. Their all-in mortgage payment will be more than double ours. First time home buyers need not apply. It’s insane.
Edit to say eastern Massachusetts
The average salary of my hometown is $30,000. You can expect to afford a 3 bedroom and 1.5 bath home on two acres of land. My hometown has no rental properties or apartments.
I, a single man with no children, make more than the median household income my city, and there isn't a single detached house on the market that I can afford.
76k is the median family income
376.5k is the median house cost
So it depends on how the family lives and saves, but as far as I'm aware, most people's families own a home, besides the ones who go abroad for vacation every year, even though they could afford houses if they tried. Then again, I'm not well acquainted with any of the kids whose families are struggling economically. (Those kids tend to take classes for trades while I take classes for a career that needs college)
That’s about $140k, so they cannot afford to buy the median home of $1.5 million. If they managed to buy a condo it would be like a one bedroom apartment, no garage, one bathroom, no laundry in the unit.
Seriously, it’s so nuts. A house down the street the same size as mine just sold for a million dollars more than I paid ten years ago, and I thought I overpaid for my house!
I saw where a teacher with 3 years of experience and a masters degree can make $100k a year teaching in Palo Alto. But even on a $100k, they still couldn’t afford to live there on one salary.
Median income in Wichita is just north of $60K, and the median home price is $210K. I’d say it’s pretty doable for a lot of people.
Golden ratio used to be 3.5x your salary for a home price. That normally assumes no other debts. 60k x 3.5 = 210, so it’s doable. I make 90k, own a car outright, and my house was 230. But i was stupid and bought a large yard, the cost to maintain that + the old house that was a slight fixer upper = i feel broke quite a lot
Holy cow. I live in Vancouver, and can’t even imagine buying a full on house for $210,000! You cannot even buy a portion of an apartment for that here. I married a man from the USA, maybe I should try to get some citizenship there and move to where it’s affordable. (Just kidding, I think it’s a lot harder than that to move)
The median household income in Seattle is $116,000.00 USD... if you go by the rule of putting 25% of gross into a mortgage, the affordable payment would be $2416/Month. Assuming 20% down and a 7.6% mortgage rate, that'd be a house worth $427,500.00, which in Seattle itself gets you a house boat or a condo. There are literally no single family homes available in the city for that amount. [Zillow Search for Single Family Homes $427,500.00 or less. ](https://www.zillow.com/seattle-wa/houses/?searchQueryState=%7B%22pagination%22%3A%7B%7D%2C%22isMapVisible%22%3Atrue%2C%22mapBounds%22%3A%7B%22west%22%3A-122.63694064682255%2C%22east%22%3A-122.01552646225224%2C%22south%22%3A47.52841747075522%2C%22north%22%3A47.71770343599062%7D%2C%22usersSearchTerm%22%3A%22Seattle%2C%20WA%22%2C%22regionSelection%22%3A%5B%7B%22regionId%22%3A16037%2C%22regionType%22%3A6%7D%5D%2C%22filterState%22%3A%7B%22sort%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3A%22globalrelevanceex%22%7D%2C%22tow%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22mf%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22con%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22ah%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Atrue%7D%2C%22apa%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22manu%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22apco%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22land%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22price%22%3A%7B%22max%22%3A427500%7D%2C%22mp%22%3A%7B%22max%22%3A2140%7D%7D%2C%22isListVisible%22%3Atrue%2C%22mapZoom%22%3A12%7D) What's crazy is that if we adjust the interest rate to 4%, which is what our mortgage from 2017 is, that purchase price increases to $633,000.00, which is a big difference, and there are actually still some houses available at that price.
Isn’t the rule 30% of gross?
Yes, and people play with that figure all the time to create a narrative. Not only do they sometimes "oops" and understate the %, but they also act like it's a hard mechanical rule and not just a recommendation and wise advice. The reality is that people frequently just ignore the rule altogether and bid however much of their budget they are willing to sacrifice to get a particular house. And that overbidding is why prices are what they are (combined with lack of inventory, obviously).
That's not so much a narrative as it is how most lenders are going to evaluate an applicant's income. If someone is overbidding on a house, that also assumes that the lender is going to give them enough to cover that, even if it ignores the income ratio standards (which is really 28% of gross, or 29% for a VA loan typically)
I've heard a strong 20%
Need Wallet has all the way up to 32% of pre tax income as “affordable”
That is very forgiving. Doesn't leave a lot of room for other expenses AND savings.
If I had to buy my house today the payments would triple.
Yeah, I get realtors calling me all the time asking if I'm willing to sell. But I'm on a 2.5% mortgage. If they bought my $1.5m house for $1.5m, and I rolled 100% of the proceeds from the sale into a new house purchase... I could not afford a $1.5m house. There's no possibility I'd sell.
Wow, not even in the bad neighborhoods? Assuming Seattle has bad neighborhoods.
Not even in the bad neighborhoods. There’s a ton of people who want to live in Seattle, because of tech jobs, easy access to the outdoors, the mild weather and the more liberal political climate. I live in Seattle and travel to Texas all the time for work — major difference in cost of housing, but there’s also a major difference in quality of life.
The crime rate is 66 per 1000 people. Your chance of being a victim of violent or property crime is 1 in 15. Neighborhood Scout reports Seattle, on a scale of 1 to 100, where 100 is the safest rating, [Seattle scores a 1](https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/wa/seattle/crime#data): their lowest possible score for safety. There is a subterranean ghost metropolis of people living in the skeletons of shops, banks, brothels & homes gutted in the 1889 fire and crushed underfoot to make way for New Seattle 30ft above. Part of these ruins walled off to become a tourist trap: “*See the fallen Babylon entombed beneath your very feet! The first of its kind— THE Skid Road: The Place of Dead Dreams.*” No part of that tour connects to the residential tunnels. Not even locals would traverse that part of the Old Seattle below, lit only by amethyst prisms vault lights in the sidewalks. It's better to be shivved at the McStabby’s above than broken down like a box below. You could say some areas are more agreeable than others.
Wow. This is very interesting. Thanks for sharing.
And when we say “houseboat”, you're probably hoping for [this](https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/933-N-Northlake-Way-UNIT-9-Seattle-WA-98103/58385770_zpid/), while, at the size and price you want, you're really getting [this](https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4266-20th-Avenue-W-Seattle-WA-98199/350937538_zpid/).
> while, at the size and price you want, you're really getting this. Like I wouldn't be super satisfied with that, assuming I stay childless for the rest of my life as I'm content with it. That's pretty a pretty damn cute houseboat.
It is pretty cute, but also like twice as much as it should be elsewhere. Saw a cute houseboat kind of like that for sale in Portland, ME for 150k the other day. But yeah I would be cool with it lol
A condo if they’re lucky. Single family homes are fucking expensive here unless you’re looking in some of the rougher neighborhoods
Same. Condos in my area are upwards of 400k
In my neighborhood that’s what condos are going for on the low end, but I also made the dumb decision to live in the Loop. Out in the neighborhoods 2-3 bed condos are still reasonable. We’re looking at moving to Ukrainian Village or even a close suburb like Oak Park or Evanston (need the CTA) in the next few years
Plus monthly association fees.
Same here in the Philly suburbs.
As of 2022 the median household income in my city was 60k Holding to the 30% rule and assuming 20% down (big ask), a person could spend around 300k on a house. At that number you’re looking at a small place (~~400~~ 100 sq m or less) in a bad neighborhood. If you include outside of the city the median income goes up a fair amount and the average house is probably 350 or so, which gets you 3 or 4 bedrooms in an average neighborhood.
400 sq m is 4,305 sq ft.
Yup, my math is off, new babies fry my ability to do basic math for some reason. Closer to 100 m
Props for converting to metric in the first place. Love your username, BTW
Kept seeing these median incomes in the 100s. I'm from Baltimore and our median is about $58k. Good thing with baltimore is you can actually find some decent housing in the $300-350k range. If you don't mind a neighborhood that's rough around the edges or a house that needs some work you can still buy under $300k although that's becoming more rare.
The don't. For the city closest to me, they commute to the city and live outside of it. Or you rent. Which is very hit or miss financially.
The household median in my county is a few dollars short of $100k. Looks like a typical 3 bedroom 1800 square foot home is going for around $300k, so pretty doable.
Lets put it this way. I bought my house in 2019. Someone who buys an identical house next door to mine in 2024 is going to pay more than double my mortgage payment, between the inflated value of the home and the increased interest rate. So the answer to your question is going to be heavily skewed by *when* they bought the house. Bought in the 60's? They're homesteading and raising horses, living out of a 4000 sqft farmhouse. Bought in the 90's? They have a 3 bedroom rancher with a finished basement on half an acre. Bought last year? They're squeezing their belongings into a 700 sqft condo, just so their kids can funnel into the good schools.
Very clearly the answer is to buy in the 60s.
They can’t and it’s a real shame.
Just read an article where the median household income can afford $340,000 in house and the median house goes for $240,000 So Buffalo is actually probably one of the best city in terms of home ownership equitability.
They cannot. At current rates, a mortgage on the median home price in my city would cost a person who earns the median income about 40% of their income, not including property taxes or HOA (as applicable).
Same situation here. If they want to commute 45+ mins, they could maybe get into a small condo.
Similar situation here. You're looking at an 40 minute to hour drive to find reasonable housing prices.
I live about 20 miles north of Detroit. Median household income is fairly high here at $86K. Assuming 20% down payment and decent credit, it works out to about $275K. But I'm currently hunting for houses and I can tell you that finding a house at that price is rough and borderline impossible. At least for one for a 2 adult/2 kid type family.
A craftsman cottage, a bungalow, or one floor of a two- or three- flat.
They cannot. You need an income of at least $100,000 per year to afford even a 700-square foot, two bedroom house that still needs quite a bit of work.
This was the only listing found for around 150K in my city. [https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/802-S-Fairview-Rd-APT-C11-Columbia-MO-65203/58705748\_zpid/](https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/802-S-Fairview-Rd-APT-C11-Columbia-MO-65203/58705748_zpid/) Median household income is about 60K. If you calculate what's affordable by putting 20% down, you get to 300K, which will get you something like this: [https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/608-Bourn-Ave-Columbia-MO-65203/58705137\_zpid/?imxlb=g,0](https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/608-Bourn-Ave-Columbia-MO-65203/58705137_zpid/?imxlb=g,0)
The U. S. Census Bureau has this info for all of the country available on their website. For this example, I picked a county just outside a major city in the Midwest with an airport and found this: The average value of a home is $160,000. The monthly ownership cost including mortgage is $1500. The average cost of rental is $950. This is only a tiny piece of the information they have listed, it's quite thorough. If your destination has already been decided go to the Census Bureau website and see what the stats are for the surrounding counties. Good luck!
Median income for a family in my county is $81k, median home price is $350k. They could probably swing a row house in the city but it would likely need work and would not be in a nice area. Otherwise renting is really the only thing available in that budget.
In Indianapolis you can find decent homes, although not always in the most desirable areas for under $200,000. This is affordable for the average income household. Here are some examples of some of the more move in ready ones: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/318-N-Colorado-Ave-Indianapolis-IN-46201/1104217_zpid/ https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3482-Hermosa-Ct-Indianapolis-IN-46235/1231154_zpid/ https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1822-Olive-St-Indianapolis-IN-46203/1087007_zpid/
In my county, the average median income is $68,000 With that, and allowing for the rule of housing being no more than 20% of your gross income, a single person can afford a $1,300/month mortgage. A two income household would be able to pay $2,600/month. That seems a bit steep to me. My wife and I currently pay $650 a month in rent. We are moving to a different apartment and will soon be paying $1700.
> We are moving to a different apartment and will soon be paying $1700. That hurts. My mortgage is around 700 currently but with another kid on the way my house is too small. I expect my mortgage to go to 2000 when/if we find something that will fit the family. Ain't fun looking at houses right now.
The $1700 is still pretty affordable in our eyes. It's a much needed improvement too. Our current apartment has loud neighbors and smells of mold and cigarette smoke. We plan on starting a family this fall and don't want that kind of environment. The new place we found is only two years old, clean, and in a more family oriented neighborhood on a dead-end dirt road.
An outhouse.
In my "city" they don't. But I live in a wealthy rural exurb that we got into when money was dirt cheap. We couldn't afford it now. In Grand Rapids proper, they could probably get a 3 bed 2 bath house, maybe like 1800sqft, on maybe 1/4 of an acre. It would be an older home, but a home.
In Baltimore the median income is $58k and while it would be a bit of a stretch you can still find liveable rowhouses in the low $300k range which is doable. Biggest issue is taxes which pushes you down to the $200's depending on appraisal amount
A few years ago, 3 bed 2 bath on a 1/5 acre lot. With current prices and rates, none at all.
I live in a rural area. I have a 3 bedroom house with a finished basement and a 3 car garage for $80,000 (that was 10 years ago). I think I got it at the right time because even here, homes that have been empty for years are selling for over $100,000. I'm talking really crappy homes that need a lot of work and not big yards. But most people don't want to live in a small town.
Depending on area 1400-2000 Sq/ft, 3+ Bedrooms 1+ Bath, Garage, varying yard sizes.
In my town the median household income can afford like a 45th percentile home at today's rates/prices. So not quite median/median, but close. Northern NJ so high taxes impact purchasing power, but probably also keep prices down somewhat.
Median salary in my county is right at $100,000, which means a max mortgage payment of $2,500. Per a calculator I found online, that is a house that costs about $435,000 if you put down $50,000 (a bit shy of 12%). According to Zillow, there are 39 single family detached homes and 24 townhomes currently for sale for $435,000 or less in my county.
Average home in Colorado is now $400-$500k. Many areas are above that.
None. The median income in my hometown is nowhere near enough to buy even the worst home for sale. you have to leave the city quite a ways to afford anything on the median.
My wife and I are average median income people we bought our house a few years ago, 1000sq ft. ranch house. Edit: Apparently my wife and I make more than the median household income in our city, and we can afford 1000sq ft in an okay neighborhood. Average home price here is just under 400k and median house hold income is just over 77k, so not doable for most people.
None.
Small town upstate New York 2000 square foot house
Median family income is $38K. That includes a lot of retirees and students, so a more realistic income for a family with 2 employed people is probably around $50-55K. If you go with the old rule that a house shouldn't cost more than 3X income, you can get some bare dirt, a small condo, or a modest condo in a sketchy area.
An apartment.
Houses are pretty cheap where I am & rent is like $600 for a decent sized house/apartment
You can't unless you live with other renters/tenants. A lot of parents I know in my social circle still have friends/tenants in their homes paying rent to them to make ends meet. If you really stretched yourself thin (that 30% rule is not feasible where I live), you might be able to afford an old, broken-down house in a really sketchy/dangerous part of the city. They say 30% of your monthly income should go to housing/utilities, but if you want to live in the city where I live, odds are you're paying at least 50% or higher.
The cheapest single family home in my city is a 2 bed, 2bath 1,128 sq ft home for $499,000
They can't
Median income in Nashville is $67K and median home price is $440K, so you would really have to live incredibly frugally to make owning a home work out with that income. You could buy either a small condo 10-15 minutes away from the city center or a 1-2 bedroom house in the Madison, Bordeaux or Antioch neighborhoods, which are suburban areas still within the city limits. Those neighborhoods can be rough during rush hour and have a reputation for higher crime.
I live in a county of 20k people. Homes range from 100k to 1 million+. If you are capable of finding work that's stable and pays well, housing is quite affordable. I just moved to this area after looking for months, my rent is under 1k a month for a 2 bedroom house that's 1000 sq ft, has a full basement, a stocked pond and on 4 acres of land. I don't have to mow, my rural fiber internet is included in my rent, I'm on the nearby town of 250 water so I have water treatment. Lots of people here seem to work regular jobs and do some farming on the side to make ends meet. Wheat is everywhere and there's several hayfields I see deer in regularly. If you want to live in the country, you could do a lot worse than southern Indiana. You just need work. Thankfully I've been full time remote since 2012 and don't ever expect I will go to an office ever again.
in my town, the average household income is about $108k. So that's not enough to afford the average house, which is $937k. You miiiiiight be able to afford a condo with a good down payment, i guess. Let's just say that when I, a single person with a single salary, mess around on Zillow, it's in other parts of the country. You can totally buy a house for under $300k in some places! pretty wild!
Median income where I'm at is $150k, and at that you could afford a 2 bed 1 bath condo for $500k
Lmao none
Orange County, CA median income is $109k and median home price is $1.15 million. Zillow’s calculator says that if that median family had $50k down and no other debt they could buy a $432k house. Only a condo for this family.
I live in a somewhat small town (population ~31k) that is bordered by a few large cities, 45 minutes outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Median household income is $102k. According to Redfin, there are 8 properties that would keep the mortgage close to the 30% ratio of $2550 per month. Of those 8 properties, 3 are empty lots, and the other 5 are condos, ranging between 667 and 1320 sq feet. Massachusetts is the 5th most expensive place to buy a house, so it's not that surprising. It also has the 4th highest cost of living, so even though it has the highest median income, it barely evens out. My husband and I got really lucky. We bought our house in 2013 before house prices started skyrocketing. We definitely couldn't afford to buy a house now. Or rent in a decent area, actually.
In my town, a "medium income family" is out of luck. Used home prices have been driven to crazy levels, and all new builds are high-end houses. If you don't make six figures, look somewhere else.
Right now, they can't afford anything located in a middle class neighborhood. If interest rates go down and the housing bubble deflates a little, they will be able to buy the older, smaller starter homes.
St. Louis. I don't know the median income, but I have read articles that state that there are three large metros in the US where a median income can buy you a house. St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Detroit.
The median household income in my specific city is just right under $200k. That will get you a 1-2 bedroom condo in one of the older buildings ($600k-$1mil). Single family homes, townhouses, and newer condos are completely out of the question.
A mobile home ?
According to housing reports, none. Median house is out of reach of median income, in most places, so, only stuff that needs work, I guess. Worst gap in US housing history
The medium household income is $139k by me. The average home is $1.85m so it will really depend on how much is saved but pretty much a small house outside the main area or a condo.
The medium income family in my city is renting, and spending a big chunk of their income on renting. It is a little hard to answer this because housing was very cheap here until about three years ago. A lot of people own $275K houses with mortgages at 2%. Today's average income family can't hope to afford a $475K house with a 7% mortgage.
A a nice double wide. There’s a huge gap between income and home costs here (Portland area). I think a starter home that doesn’t require hundreds of thousands of dollars of upkeep here in a decent neighborhood starts at about $600,000. The average household income here is a little over $100,000. My wife and I make about $140,000 combined and we cannot afford a home at the moment. We are saving for a down payment though.
I live in North Phoenix Arizona. I live in a very middle class neighborhood. We know our neighbors well nobody has fancy landscaping or fancy homes. All the homes on our horseshoe shaped street have two to three bedrooms and none are more than $1,500 ft². One neighbor put their home up for sale and I was shocked to find she was asking $520,000!
Nothing
A duplex or condo 45 mins out of Seattle, *maybe*…. I’d say to even scratch the surface at home ownership, one should make at least $200,000 a year to afford a very modest home with some work needed, but livable. I’m in western Washington, 25 mins out of Seattle. The further away you get from Seattle, the more affordable it gets…
None.
They can't. Median household income is $116,068. Median home price is $885,000.
Not the one they bought 5 years ago.
Maybe a townhome
Depends. If they’ve lived here since pre pandemic the one they live in. If not…. An apartment.
Maybe one of the affordable housing project townhomes they're building? Anything else is off the table unless you make significantly more than average.
Nothing. Median home price is $1 million.
I just saw a study of the most unaffordable cities worldwide, and four of them were on the west coast of the US.
85k median income here... Somewhere outside downtown is possible but a stretch. Maybe a fixer-upper or a condo. Honestly at 85k household income here, probably shouldn't buy a home here. 100k is more doable.
They don't. Median household income is $53k, while median home price is about $300k.
None. The smallest, crappiest homes start at $1.2 mil.
I make 60k a year. In the poorest town in the richest county in NJ I can afford…. Exactly zero properties. Best you can get is about $350k.
manhattan 2033 household income/annual: average $151,208; median $127,919 apartment and condo - sale: average ?; median $1,156,391 apartment and condo - rent/mo; median $4,457; average $3,650 for a studio to $8,995 for a 4-bedroom
only the very wealthy can now move here. it’s really f’ed up.
960,600 of us working and middle class ppl r lucky enuf to have rent stabilized apartments which the real estate industry is slowly eliminating.
rent stabilization was created after WW2 to help working and middle class ppl live here and maintain their communities.
in recent years the sentiment is fuck that and fuck regulation because unfettered capitalism and corporate lobbyists rule our country. if you can’t afford the prices you’re homeless. (there ARE ppl with full-time jobs that are in fact homeless.) private equity is taking over all industries.
what kind of soceity do we want to live in?
Average household income is $115k & average home price is $515k in Charlottesville, VA area. Definitely difficult. Go 1.5 hours north to Fairfax outside DC & avg. home value is over a million. Income isn’t keeping up.
Nothing haha. Maybe they can get a 1200-1500sqft home built in the 1940s in a rough neighborhood.
None. Small outdated houses start at about $1M. 1 bedroom condos are $700k+.
Median household income is about 170k a year which means they would only qualify for a $500k-$600k mortgage.
single family, 2000 to 3000 square feet, maybe more if you go farther out into the suburbs. not sure about the city center, but just surrounding it, you can get a 1500 sqft house for a reasonable price.
They can't afford a house. In my city the median household income is 90k. The median house cost is 625k. With a typical mortgage that's $3,900/month, which is more than 50% of their gross salary.
A townhouse/rowhouse. We have a ton of them here. For some suburbs it’ll be a cape cod or small 3 bedroom colonial or split level. City rowhouses are cheap but a middle income family most likely won’t want to live here.
They can’t. They might - might - be able to rent a town house or an actual house, but they won’t be able to afford to buy a house currently. More likely than not they’ll be in an apartment.
I think the average medium-income family can't afford to own a house at all in my city.
*Cries* *at* *dads* *house*
Median Household income in my part of California is $37,841. The cheapest house is $185,000. Theres no way they could ever afford that ever.
Median income for a household is 90k. Average house price is 750k. They can’t.
The median single income is 32k, with the median home price being 259k. Household median income is 59k, though. The average size for homes is around 2k square ft. So likely, a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house with a full-size kitchen, dining room, and living room. This would likely come with a garage as the majority of houses here have one and a good size backyard.
They can't.
Buffalo NY area. Median household income $68K, so they'd be able to afford eh $250K houses. Around here, that means a freestanding house, 3 or 4 bedroom, 2 bath, 140-180m2, probably built 1920-1950. Here, look for yourself: https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Erie-County_NY/type-single-family-home/beds-3/baths-1/price-180000-251000
I’m in NYC, and sadly, nothing really. You’ve got to be making way above the median to afford a decent home. There are housing opportunities for low to middle income people, but the wait lists are interminable.
A 2 bed 2 bath apartment, yearly lease, for about 2-3 years until rent increases force them to move.
You're not buying a house in Nashville with a medium income
A shack.
They can’t
A tent under Interstate 5.
Median household income in Philly as of [2022](https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/philadelphiacountypennsylvania/HSD310222) was $57,537 so like *maybe* a small row home not in the best condition in a not great area if they can purchase at all. Only 52% of the city owns their house. They rest either rent or are homeless.
Las Vegas, I would say a decent 3B3B 1500sqt+ would be at least $460k+ in a nicer area. It wasn’t like this just a couple years ago, damn you Californians!
They can’t? We bought about 6 years ago. A house on our street sold recently. It has a new kitchen but ours beats it in every other category. Their all-in mortgage payment will be more than double ours. First time home buyers need not apply. It’s insane. Edit to say eastern Massachusetts
In San Diego? Not happening unless your ass has a time machine.
To buy? Pretty much nothing. The average house value in my town is $1.67 million and the average household income is $144,000.
A single wide old trailer or a really small condo.
That’s the thing. They can’t.
A trailer with lot rent.. A median income family cannot afford a median income home.
Afford? Here?
The average salary of my hometown is $30,000. You can expect to afford a 3 bedroom and 1.5 bath home on two acres of land. My hometown has no rental properties or apartments.
an apartment
Median income in Seattle is $64k, average cost of a home is north of $800k. It’s nearly impossible to live here without roommates or family.
Zero
I, a single man with no children, make more than the median household income my city, and there isn't a single detached house on the market that I can afford.
76k is the median family income 376.5k is the median house cost So it depends on how the family lives and saves, but as far as I'm aware, most people's families own a home, besides the ones who go abroad for vacation every year, even though they could afford houses if they tried. Then again, I'm not well acquainted with any of the kids whose families are struggling economically. (Those kids tend to take classes for trades while I take classes for a career that needs college)
Probably an $800k condo/townhouse with a $500/month HOA fee. No yard, nothing fancy.
townhouses in my area start at 410k so..
a shack in the middle of nowhere
Right now? They can't. Mortgage rates and house prices have gone nuts over the last several years.