Housing affordability for median-earning Americans looks pretty grim in 2025, although some areas offer better opportunities than others for owning a typical home on a typical salary, according to recent research by Clever Real Estate.
To afford the median-priced U.S. home of $438,000 with a 20% down payment, homebuyers would need a household income of $123,226, but they are making a median of just $77,719.
Buyers putting 0% down would need an income of $147,602.
Overall, the research showed that only two of the largest metropolitan areas in the country offer median salaries that are high enough for those earning them to affordably buy a median-priced home.
Clever noted that although home prices are the most significant factor in housing affordability, the growing influence of differences in property tax and insurance expenses are creating wide gaps in necessary income between states with similarly priced homes.
To find out in which metro areas better homebuying opportunities exist, researchers analyzed the average price of a home sold in each of 50 markets, median household incomes, property tax rates and homeowners insurance costs, and factored these numbers against the 28% rule for home affordability. This guideline dictates that a household’s housing costs should not exceed more than 28% of its gross, pretax income.
See the accompanying gallery for the 10 metro areas with the best housing affordability, according to Clever.
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