--- title: The Salary Needed to Afford a Home Has Spiked 70% Since 2019 description: Homebuyers now need $114K+ to afford a typical U.S. home — up 70% since 2019 — driven by rising prices and mortgage rates. authors: - name: Adam Hardy role: Lead Data Reporter url: https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/ bio: Adam Hardy is a lead data journalist at Money, where he frequently reports on financial barriers that affect low-income Americans. Adam’s work has also appeared in Business Insider, Forbes, Nasdaq, The Penny Hoarder, Yahoo! Finance and more than a dozen local and regional newspapers. education: University of South Florida, BA, Magazine Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 501 covers: - Housing - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - The Penny Hoarder - Forbes Advisor - Creative Loafing - The New York Times - The Washington Post - Bloomberg - Harvard Law School - The Federal Register - National Consumer Law Center - CBS News - Becker's Hospital Review - Business Insider - Mother Jones - The Week - Fortune - The Philadelphia Inquirer - National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NAFSAA) - Education Advisory Board (EAB) - The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) - This Morning with Gordon Deal - Empower - Reddit social: - https://www.x.com/hardyjournalism - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardyjournalism/ editors: - name: Katherine Peach role: Associate Editor url: https://money.com/author/katherine-peach/ bio: Katherine Peach is an associate editor with a focus on news and email at Money. She didn’t always intend to write about money. She’s a classically trained pianist who dreamed of becoming an archaeologist. However, in 2007 Katherine began working in financial publishing as an editor for Agora Inc. (Apparently, unearthing ideas about improving your personal finances isn’t such a bad career alternative!) Katherine’s writing and editing work has been featured in Investing Daily, Clever, Investor Junkie, The Palm Beach Letter, Truth & Plenty, Independence Monthly, NICHE, AmericanStyle, AntiqueWeek, Millennial Money, Money Done Right, TheStreet, Sure Dividend and many others. Katherine holds a Bachelor of Arts in Ancient Studies with concentrations in Archaeology and Ancient Languages and a minor in Literature from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. education: University of Maryland, Baltimore County at_money_since: 2025 articles: 14 covers: - Housing - Banking - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Federal Reserve Rate Cuts - Health and Wellness - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes published: '2025-05-02T14:45:13.000Z' modified: '2025-05-02T14:45:13.000Z' section: Housing tags: - News word_count: 555 canonical: https://money.com/salary-needed-buy-home-spiked/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Photo-illustration of a house on top of stacks of cash](https://img.money.com/2025/05/News-Income-Afford-Median-Home.jpg) In pre-pandemic times, a salary of $67,000 could afford a modest home in most areas of the country. Not anymore. Americans now need to earn at least $114,000 to be able to buy the typical house, according to a [report from Realtor.com](https://mediaroom.realtor.com/2025-05-01-Americans-Need-to-Earn-70-1-More-Today-Than-Six-Years-Ago-to-Afford-the-Median-priced-Home) released Thursday, marking an increase of 70% in just six years. “Compared to 2019, the required income has jumped by nearly $47,000,” the report’s authors wrote, “largely driven by home price appreciation and higher mortgage rates.” For reference, the [median salary](https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/wkyeng.pdf) in the U.S. for full-time workers is roughly $62,000. Such a salary would not be able to afford a home in any of the cities included in Realtor.com’s analysis. The most affordable city on the list, Pittsburgh, came close. There, median home prices are about $244,000 and require a salary of $64,000. Realtor.com’s calculations were based on home prices in 50 of the largest metropolitan areas in the U.S., assuming a 30-year fixed [mortgage rate](https://money.com/current-mortgage-rates/), a 20% down payment and no more than 30% of income going toward housing costs. (Given that [about half](https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/92681/mortgage_insurance_data_at_a_glance_chartbook_4.pdf) of all new mortgages require private mortgage insurance because the borrower could not make a 20% down payment, that may be a generous assumption.) According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, people who spend more than 30% of their income on housing are considered “cost burdened.” About 42 million households — [or 1 in 3 families](https://money.com/americans-overspending-housing-harvard-study/) — meet that definition, [federal data](https://usafacts.org/answers/how-many-households-in-the-united-states-spend-too-much-on-housing/country/united-states/) shows. By now, Americans are well aware of how pandemic-induced inflation has been eating away at their standard of living. But the Realtor.com report puts the housing affordability crisis in stark new light by focusing on what it realistically takes to keep up with housing inflation of 30% over the past six years. ## Where salary requirements for homeownership are the highest In 23 cities, you'll need more than a $114,000 salary to buy a home these days. The required salaries above that benchmark range from $116,000 in the Charlotte, North Carolina, area all the way up to $370,000 for the typical home in San Jose, California. Here’s a closer look at the 10 most expensive metros in the country. 1. **San Jose, California**: The median listing price is $1.4 million, requiring a $370,000 salary. 2. **Los Angeles, California**: The median listing price is $1.2 million, requiring a $316,000 salary. 3. **San Francisco, California**: The median listing price is $995,000, requiring a $263,000 salary. 4. **San Diego, California**: The median listing price is $980,000, requiring a $259,000 salary. 5. **Boston, Massachusetts**: The median listing price is $878,000, requiring a $232,000 salary. 6. **New York City, New York**: The median listing price is $789,000, requiring a $209,000 salary. 7. **Seattle, Washington**: The median listing price is $782,000, requiring a $207,000 salary. 8. **Sacramento, California**: The median listing price is $634,000, requiring a $167,000 salary. 9. **Washington, D.C.**: The median listing price is $623,000, requiring a $165,000 salary. 10. **Portland, Oregon**: The median listing price is $615,000, requiring a $163,000 salary. On the flip side, Pittsburgh, as mentioned above, was [the most affordable metropolitan area](https://money.com/what-does-affordable-housing-mean/). Detroit was a close second. The salary needed for a typical home in Motown, listed at $254,000, is $67,000. ## Buy your home with more convenience and less hassle ![View Rates](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/38130/medium_29a2a129-cf1d-4fcb-a92d-901b0c9bf0f6.webp) Our Partner [View Rates](https://money.com/go/31f4f8c05ffb?bidid=4108740182&pmeta=p129-c488-u36862&ptid=670194535&ptoken=a945f39a1cf5a81ca45fe57901816ddd) ![View Rates](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/39711/medium_85521de9-b6c5-4b35-a129-169c217d0287.webp) Our Partner [View Rates](https://money.com/go/38d23e4aa706?bidid=4108740189&pmeta=p129-c488-u36862&ptid=670194535&ptoken=98c61ede63da9ec5b1bec336d6a7f159) ![View Rates](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/34120/medium_4ba40e39-00f6-4f3e-9a12-67943aa4166f.webp) Our Partner [View Rates](https://money.com/go/2b4cc2bd9216?bidid=4108740185&pmeta=p129-c488-u36862&ptid=670194535&ptoken=bdb9fbac029aaf60475b81511ef905a1) ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/26681/medium_57f09f10-efb8-487d-a73e-5f7d605144eb.png) Imagine finally owning your dream home — Rocket Mortgage (NMLS #3030) can help! [View Rates](https://money.com/pr/t39f99e0e0ab?ap_referrer=%2Fsalary-needed-buy-home-spiked%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/salary-needed-buy-home-spiked/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Housing", "item": "https://money.com/housing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Housing Market", "item": "https://money.com/housing-market/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The Salary Needed to Afford a Home Has Spiked 70% Since 2019" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/salary-needed-buy-home-spiked/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/salary-needed-buy-home-spiked/", "name": "The Salary Needed to Afford a Home Has Spiked 70% Since 2019", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2025-05-02T14:45:13.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/salary-needed-buy-home-spiked/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/salary-needed-buy-home-spiked/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2025-05-02T14:45:13.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "The Salary Needed to Afford a Home Has Spiked 70% Since 2019", "articleSection": "Housing", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2025/05/News-Income-Afford-Median-Home.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-Income-Afford-Median-Home" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adam Hardy", "url": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/#author", "description": "Adam Hardy is a lead data journalist at Money, where he frequently reports on financial barriers that affect low-income Americans. 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