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What salary do you need to afford an American home?

How much do you reasonably need to be earning to afford a median-priced home in the U.S.?
Credit: Feverpitched
Home for sale.

As home prices continue to rise and mortgage rates creep ever higher, it can feel as if homeownership is increasingly out of reach for many Americans.

Salary plays an important role in determining how much house you can afford. That’s because lenders are going to calculate your debt-to-income ratio when you apply for a mortgage. This helps them determine how much of your monthly income will be going toward your monthly debt obligations, which will include your new mortgage payment.

The higher your salary, the more house you can probably afford.

Location matters, too. In cities where home prices are quite high, it likely means homebuyers will need to have a relatively high income in order to qualify for sufficient financing.

So how much do you reasonably need to be earning to afford a median-priced home in the U.S.?

LendingTree, which is the parent company of MagnifyMoney, analyzed public property data from ATTOM Data Solutions to find out what salary you’d need to afford a typical home in the top 50 biggest metro statistical areas in the U.S.

To paint the most accurate picture, they assumed that borrowers:

  • Secured a mortgage with a 4.5% interest rate
  • Had a 10% down payment
  • Paid a private mortgage insurance premium of 0.25%
  • Had a debt-to-income ratio of 28%

Here are the cities where you need to earn the most to afford a median priced home:

#1 San Jose/Sunnyvale/Santa Clara, Calif.

Median home price: $960,000

Monthly mortgage payment: $4,378

Salary required: $221,218

#2 San Francisco/Oakland/Hayward, Calif.

Median home price: $775,000

Monthly mortgage payment: $3,534

Salary required: $178,588

#3 Los Angeles/Long Beach/Anaheim, Calif.

Median home price: $592,000

Monthly mortgage payment: $2,700

Salary required: $136,418

#4 San Diego/Carlsbad, Calif.

Median home price: $525,000

Monthly mortgage payment: $2,394

Salary required: $120,979

#5 Seattle/Tacoma/Bellevue, Wash.

Median home price: $410,000

Monthly mortgage payment: $1,870

Salary required: $97,554

#6 New York, Newark/Jersey City, N.J., Pa.

Median home price: $365,000

Monthly mortgage payment: $1,664

Salary required: $94,147

#7 Washington D.C./Arlington/Alexandria, Va., Md.-W. Va

Median home price: $365,000

Monthly mortgage payment: $1,664

Salary required: $85,152

#8 Portland/Hillsboro, Ore., Vancouver, Wash.

Median home price: $348,050

Monthly mortgage payment: $1,587

Salary required: $83,311

#9 Sacramento/Roseville/Arden/Arcade, Calif.

Median home price: $355,000

Monthly mortgage payment: $1,619

Salary required: $81,805

#10 Denver/Aurora/Lakewood, Colo.

Median home price: $360,000

Monthly mortgage payment: $1,642

Salary required: $81,157

Here are the cities with the LOWEST required salary to afford a median priced home:

#1 Memphis, Tenn. -Miss.-Ark.

Median home price: $140,000

Monthly mortgage payment: $638

Salary required: $32,111

#2 Oklahoma City

Median home price: $140,000

Monthly mortgage payment: $638

Salary required: $32,861

#3 Rochester, N.Y.

Median home price: $130,000

Monthly mortgage payment: $593

Salary required: $32,975

#4 Cleveland/Elyria, Ohio

Median home price: $128,500

Monthly mortgage payment: $586

Salary required: $33,512

#5 Indianapolis/Carmel/Anderson, Ind.

Median home price: $143,797

Monthly mortgage payment: $656

Salary required: $33,804

#6 Birmingham/Hoover, Ala.

Median home price: $155,011

Monthly mortgage payment: $707

Salary required: $35,222

#7 Louisville, Ky./Jefferson County, Ind.

Median home price: $151,000

Monthly mortgage payment: $689

Salary required: $35,335

#8 Buffalo/Cheektowaga/Niagara Falls, N.Y.

Median home price: $140,000

Monthly mortgage payment: $638

Salary required: $35,511

#9 Pittsburgh, Pa.

Median home price: $140,000

Monthly mortgage payment: $638

Salary required: $35,911

#10 Detroit/Warren/Dearborn, Mich.

Median home price: $143,500

Monthly mortgage payment: $654

Salary required: $36,809

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MagnifyMoney is a price comparison and financial education website, founded by former bankers who use their knowledge of how the system works to help you save money.

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