How Much Do You Need to Make to Afford The Average Home in Every State?

by rmears

HowMuch, a website aimed to help people understand money, put together an infographic that illustrates out just how much your annual salary needs to be in every state if you’re interested in buying an “average” home in that state. The results might make you squirm.

Unsurprisingly, the east and west coasts are home to the most expensive, well, homes in the United States. In California, you need to make more than $120,000 a year in order to buy an “average” home. Meanwhile, over in Michigan the least expensive, you need to make $40,000. In Hawaii, which tops the list, you need to pull in $153,000 a year to buy a home — the average of which is more than $600,000.

HowMuch collected the data by scouring real-estate website Zillow. They then plugged those prices into a mortgage calculator, determined monthly mortgage payments, and, working on the assumption that buyers contribute a 10 percent down payment, constructed their map. They calculated the salaries by operating under the official recommendation of financial advisors that homebuyers should not purchase a home that costs more than 30 percent of their gross income.

While much of the map is not a shock, there were some surprises. Researchers were surprised to find that it’s easier to buy a home in Pennsylvania than Wyoming, given that out west, there is far more available land for homeowners to purchase.

Published on 2018-11-14 16:49:43