The median home value of homes in the United States was $320,900 in 2022 while the median family income was $92,148 according to the 2022 American Community Survey. This means that the median home cost less than 3.5 times median family income, which is pretty affordable. Even at today’s relatively high interest rates, someone getting a mortgage that is 3.5 times their income should be able to pay it off in well under 30 years while paying less than 30 percent of their income on the mortgage.
Value-to-income ratios ranged from well over 10 in Los Angeles and several other California cities to under 1.5 in Decatur Illinois and several Illinois counties. The states with the least affordable housing are Hawaii and California followed by Washington and Oregon — all states with urban-growth boundaries and other rural land-use restrictions. The most affordable states are Indiana, Ohio, Kansas, Iowa, West Virginia, and Mississippi. Continue reading
