Four decades of price gains left even the “cheapest” big metros out of reach
US housing affordability has deteriorated to levels unseen before the pandemic era, with home values pulling far away from household incomes and no major metro meeting a commonly cited affordability benchmark.
According to a new analysis from Best Interest Financial and Clever Real Estate, the median US home price of $414,900 is more than five times the median household income of $81,604, producing a home‑price‑to‑income ratio of 5.08.
Since 1980, median home prices have climbed 551% while incomes rose 373%. That pushed the ratio from 3.65 in 1980 to a peak of 5.83 in 2022 before easing slightly.
The study defined 2.6 as a recommended maximum ratio for affordability, a threshold none of the 50 largest metros met – a benchmark that differs from the more widely used rule that housing costs should stay near 28% to 30% of income.
“Home prices multiplied 6.5x over that span while incomes grew less than 4.8x,” the report said of the period from 1980 to 2024, when the median home reached $420,300 and median income $83,730.
It added that “a few years of modest correction cannot erase decades of compounding home price gains.”
Between 2019 and 2024, median home prices surged 31% to $420,300 from $321,500, while household incomes rose 22% to $83,730 from $68,700.
“In just those five years, home prices grew nearly 1.5x faster than incomes,” the researchers said, pointing to record‑low pandemic mortgage rates, remote‑work migration and lean inventory.
Pittsburgh posted the lowest home‑price‑to‑income ratio among major metros at 3.07, with a median home price of $237,400 on a median income of $77,214. Even there, buyers faced ratios above the study’s 2.6 threshold.
On the other hand, San Jose’s ratio stood at 11.65, with a $1.92 million median home against income of $164,801 – a home that “costs 3.8x more relative to local incomes than a home in Pittsburgh,” the report said.
California dominated the least affordable list, claiming four of the top five metros: San Jose, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego, all with ratios above 9.
Miami rounded out the bottom five at 7.88, driven as much by relatively low incomes as high prices, according to the analysis.
Rust Belt and Midwestern markets led the other side of the ledger. Seven of the 10 most affordable metros – including Cleveland, St. Louis and Detroit – posted ratios below 4.15, reflecting large existing housing stocks, cheaper land and slower population growth.
Dallas and Atlanta appeared as rare Sun Belt cities where new construction helped keep ratios under 4.1, even as demand remained strong.
If household income had grown at the same rate as home prices since 1980, the median household would have earned $115,225 in 2024 instead of $83,730. That's a difference of $31,495 a year.
If home prices had grown only as fast as incomes since 2000, the median home would have cost $336,994 – roughly $83,000 below actual levels.
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