Home ownership affordability
Can a median-income household afford the median-priced home?
Federal Reserve·Measure by Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
A household earning the median income, buying the median-priced home, should spend no more than 30% of that income on owning it. That is the federal standard, and this measure reports it as an index where 100 is exactly 30%. Above 100 the median home is affordable; below it, it is not. The index covers principal and interest at current mortgage rates, plus taxes, insurance and mortgage insurance, and assumes a 10% down payment.
- Affordability index
- 68.4
- 100 means the median home costs exactly 30% of median income. Below 100 it costs more.
- Cost as a share of income
- 43.9%
- Owning the median home takes this much of what the median household earns. The standard says 30%.
- Income shortfall
- $39,996
- A household would need to earn this much more each year — 46.2% above the median — to afford the median home at 30%.
- Metro areas affordable
- 152 of 768
- Where the index sits at or above 100, July 2026.
DataMonthly through July 2026
National
Drag across the chart, or use the slider, to narrow the period.
How far short the median household falls
The income a household would need to qualify for the median home, less the income it actually has.
By county
1,444 counties, July 2026. Drag the scale on the left to isolate a range; scroll to zoom, drag to pan. The map covers the lower 48; 6 Alaskan and Hawaiian counties in the data are not drawn.
By metro area
768 metro areas grouped by index, July 2026.
Least affordable
| Metro | Index | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Nantucket, MA | 14.3 | 210% |
| Burlington-South Burlington, VT | 19.0 | 158% |
| Vineyard Haven, MA | 21.5 | 139% |
| Barre, VT | 25.0 | 120% |
| Hailey, ID | 28.5 | 105% |
| Brattleboro, VT | 31.2 | 96% |
| Jackson, WY-ID | 31.3 | 96% |
| Bennington, VT | 31.4 | 96% |
Most affordable
| Metro | Index | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Sterling, IL | 202.1 | 15% |
| El Dorado, AR | 192.9 | 16% |
| Johnstown, PA | 184.7 | 16% |
| Madisonville, KY | 177.2 | 17% |
| Ottawa, IL | 166.0 | 18% |
| Peru, IN | 158.2 | 19% |
| Pampa, TX | 157.9 | 19% |
| Kennett, MO | 157.2 | 19% |
Methodology
Affordability is the ratio of what a median-income household can spend at the 30% standard to what owning the median-priced home actually costs. Expressed as an index, 100 is the threshold itself.
Annual ownership cost is monthly principal and interest at the prevailing 30-year fixed rate, plus property tax, property insurance and private mortgage insurance, times twelve. A 10% down payment is assumed throughout, which is why mortgage insurance enters at all.
What it does not say
- It is about the median household and the median home. It says nothing about who can buy at other points in either distribution.
- It measures the cost of buying now, not the cost borne by existing owners, most of whom hold older and cheaper mortgages.
- The 30% threshold is a convention, not a finding.
- It is a cost measure, not a credit measure: it does not model down payment savings, underwriting or whether a loan would be approved.
This measure is the Atlanta Fed's, not ours. We publish their released figures rather than recomputing them, so the numbers here are the numbers they report. Their own tool carries three further views — drivers, cost breakdown and price-to-income — built from component data they do not release. Those are not reproduced here.
Inputs and sources6 inputs
Each input is held by its publisher. The assembled measure is released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
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