Income you need to purchase a median-priced existing home
Fourth quarter 2020

How much salary do you need to earn in order to afford the principal, interest, taxes and insurance payments on a median-priced home in your metro area?

Source: HSH.com
See methodology
See most current data

Terms of use: Source credit and hyperlink to HSH.com required.

Metro Area 30-Year FRM Quarterly average Median Home Price Home price change from year ago Income needed with 20% down Income needed with 10% down
National 2.94% $315,900 14.87% $60,479.64 $70,002.33
Atlanta 2.94% $275,200 18.62% $51,685.87 $59,981.68
Austin 2.94% $386,000 17.18% $81,436.81 $93,072.64
Baltimore 2.94% $338,000 14.93% $64,780.63 $74,969.52
Birmingham 2.94% $246,500 11.69% $43,576.53 $51,007.18
Boston 2.94% $579,100 19.95% $108,549.91 $126,006.68
Buffalo 2.94% $188,500 16.14% $45,410.41 $51,092.68
Charlotte 2.94% $312,000 20.70% $54,843.46 $64,248.59
Chicago 2.94% $292,100 14.68% $65,035.38 $73,840.63
Cincinnati 2.94% $216,000 19.73% $42,787.23 $49,298.48
Cleveland 2.94% $187,100 17.38% $40,706.02 $46,346.08
Columbus 2.94% $246,400 17.17% $49,712.18 $57,139.82
Dallas 2.94% $296,900 10.54% $63,870.33 $72,820.28
Denver 2.94% $512,500 11.90% $86,878.76 $102,327.89
Detroit 2.94% $226,500 16.33% $46,032.67 $52,860.43
Hartford 2.94% $277,200 17.86% $65,237.37 $73,593.46
Houston 2.94% $273,700 11.40% $59,721.03 $67,971.62
Indianapolis 2.94% $232,400 15.97% $42,411.12 $49,416.74
Jacksonville 2.94% $290,000 13.06% $55,098.43 $63,840.38
Kansas City 2.94% $248,500 15.26% $49,052.70 $56,543.64
Las Vegas 2.94% $343,500 11.06% $57,822.63 $68,177.31
Los Angeles 2.94% $688,700 11.57% $118,039.11 $138,799.73
Louisville 2.94% $219,300 14.34% $40,999.88 $47,610.60
Memphis 2.94% $229,100 20.45% $43,059.19 $49,965.33
Miami 2.94% $425,000 15.33% $77,848.94 $90,660.41
Milwaukee 2.94% $288,200 9.71% $58,293.81 $66,981.50
Minneapolis 2.94% $323,300 12.65% $62,210.80 $71,956.56
Nashville 2.94% $310,700 11.04% $54,614.13 $63,980.07
New Orleans 2.94% $251,000 12.30% $47,789.88 $55,356.18
New York City 2.94% $502,500 17.41% $106,797.90 $121,945.59
Oklahoma City 2.94% $181,100 14.19% $38,795.36 $44,254.56
Orlando 2.94% $315,000 12.50% $59,220.22 $68,715.78
Philadelphia 2.94% $282,700 16.91% $61,300.00 $69,821.89
Phoenix 2.94% $354,700 20.07% $59,411.33 $70,103.64
Pittsburgh 2.94% $162,500 8.33% $35,734.47 $40,632.97
Portland 2.94% $468,400 13.99% $82,960.07 $97,079.82
Providence 2.94% $362,400 16.71% $73,809.89 $84,734.31
Raleigh 2.94% $340,600 16.96% $60,456.64 $70,723.91
Richmond 2.94% $318,100 16.91% $56,161.32 $65,750.33
Riverside/San Bernardino 2.94% $450,000 18.42% $78,967.15 $92,532.24
Sacramento 2.94% $441,000 14.55% $79,876.17 $93,169.95
Salt Lake City 2.94% $406,500 12.57% $68,013.10 $80,266.90
San Antonio 2.94% $264,900 11.63% $56,276.59 $64,261.91
San Diego 2.94% $740,000 12.98% $124,662.01 $146,969.05
San Francisco 3.27% $1,140,000 15.15% $198,134.28 $229,710.89
San Jose 3.27% $1,400,000 12.36% $238,440.59 $277,218.88
Seattle 2.94% $614,700 16.24% $106,652.91 $125,182.82
St Louis 2.94% $210,600 13.96% $43,684.07 $50,032.53
Tampa 2.94% $287,000 14.80% $54,325.25 $62,976.76
Virginia Beach 2.94% $275,000 16.53% $51,182.51 $59,472.28
Washington, D.C. 2.94% $483,800 10.91% $89,097.66 $103,681.64

Methodology and Data Sources

HSH.com calculates the annual before-tax income required to cover the mortgage's principal, interest, property tax and homeowner's insurance payment. We use standard 28 percent "front-end" debt ratios and a 20 percent down payment subtracted from median-home-price data to arrive at our figures. Downpayments of less than 20% incur both higher mortgage amounts and require private mortgage insurance, which increases the income required.


In these calculations, we utilize metropolitan area median home prices from the National Association of Realtors Metropolitan Median Area Prices series. For mortgage rates, we create a quarterly average of zero-point equivalent mortgage rates from survey data published by Freddie Mac (conforming loans) and the Mortgage Bankers Association of America (jumbo loans) for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage.


The average mortgage rate information we use is for purchase-money mortgages made to borrowers with good to excellent credit.


Our calculations incorporate metropolitan-area average property tax information using data made available from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS). We the latest available ACS 5-year estimates. Metropolitan area definitions are from the Office of Management and Budget and are revised periodically.


For homeowner's insurance costs, we use the latest available data for statewide average homeowner insurance premium costs from the Insurance Information Institute.


Note: Property taxes and insurance costs are specific to an individual property and will be different for any single property in which you may have an interest. Also, if other personal debts exceed 8 percent of one's given monthly gross income this may increase the income needed to qualify.


PMI costs used in our calculations are for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages. For conforming loan amounts, these are costs for FICO scores of greater than 740 but less than 759; for jumbo loan amounts, these costs are for FICO scores of 760 or greater.


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