Mapped: Salary Needed to Buy a Home in 50 U.S. Cities (2026)

How Much Do You Need to Earn to Buy a Home in 2026?

A six-figure salary used to be a benchmark of financial success. In much of the U.S. housing market, it’s now closer to the starting point for buying a home, even with a substantial down payment.

This map shows the annual income needed to buy a median-priced existing home in 50 major U.S. metro areas in Q2 2026, using data from HSH.com. It assumes a 20% down payment and a 30-year fixed mortgage, with principal, interest, property taxes, and insurance taking up 28% of gross income.

California Metros Need the Highest Salaries

California dominates the expensive end of the ranking. San Jose leads at $492.4K a year, followed by San Francisco ($368.0K), San Diego ($256.7K), and Los Angeles ($215.1K).

Outside California, New York City ($213.8K), Boston ($212.6K), and Seattle ($200.8K) are the only metros requiring annual incomes above $200K.

The table below ranks all 50 metro areas by the income needed to buy a median-priced home, along with each metro’s median home price and monthly mortgage payment:

Rank	Metro Area	Q2 2026 (USD)
		Income Needed to Buy a Home	Median Home Price	Monthly Payment
1	San Jose	492,364	2,050,000	11,489
2	San Francisco	367,973	1,500,000	8,586
3	San Diego	256,735	1,075,000	5,990
4	Los Angeles	215,136	879,900	5,020
5	New York City	213,791	802,400	4,988
6	Boston	212,586	844,600	4,960
7	Seattle	200,835	815,000	4,686
8	Washington	174,110	688,200	4,063
9	Miami	164,691	659,000	3,843
10	Denver	161,920	668,300	3,778
11	Portland	151,400	611,100	3,533
12	Providence	150,771	580,900	3,518
13	Riverside/San Bernardino	149,302	605,000	3,484
14	Sacramento	142,726	560,000	3,330
15	Salt Lake City	142,461	601,200	3,324
16	Austin	138,268	485,400	3,226
17	Hartford	127,510	456,700	2,975
18	Chicago	121,817	438,600	2,842
19	Milwaukee	119,354	466,500	2,785
20	Baltimore	118,198	458,400	2,758
21	Raleigh	116,261	466,700	2,713
22	Orlando	115,986	450,000	2,706
23	Las Vegas	115,133	486,300	2,686
24	Philadelphia	113,570	419,800	2,650
25	Phoenix	113,144	477,700	2,640
26	Richmond	112,640	460,400	2,628
27	Dallas	110,651	380,100	2,582
28	Minneapolis	108,829	414,300	2,539
29	Jacksonville	108,295	417,500	2,527
30	Tampa	107,829	415,000	2,516
31	Charlotte	107,287	434,000	2,503
32	Nashville	103,046	420,900	2,404
33	Houston	99,848	345,200	2,330
34	Atlanta	99,594	387,000	2,324
35	Virginia Beach	97,743	387,000	2,281
36	Kansas City	96,683	370,600	2,256
37	Columbus	95,705	363,100	2,233
38	San Antonio	92,337	316,500	2,155
39	Cincinnati	87,772	341,500	2,048
40	Birmingham	85,983	352,200	2,006
41	Indianapolis	85,826	343,900	2,003
42	St. Louis	83,886	314,100	1,957
43	Buffalo	83,772	287,800	1,955
44	Detroit	82,913	311,800	1,935
45	New Orleans	80,193	304,200	1,871
46	Memphis	78,344	308,900	1,828
47	Louisville	75,811	297,400	1,769
48	Oklahoma City	73,747	269,900	1,721
49	Cleveland	71,871	258,500	1,677
50	Pittsburgh	71,567	267,700	1,670
—	National Average	112,695	434,900	2,630

All 12 Western metros require more than the national figure of $112.7K, while the cheaper half of the ranking consists of Southern and Midwestern metros, plus Buffalo and Pittsburgh.

In coastal California, much of what buyers pay for is the land itself. Land accounted for 59% to 68% of a single-family home’s value in the San Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego metros in 2022, compared with 40% nationally and 22% in Pittsburgh, according to FHFA estimates.

In Most Metros, Typical Households Earn Too Little to Buy

Nationally, buyers needed $112.7K a year, about 29% more than the 2025 U.S. median household income of $87.5K, according to the Census Bureau.

The gap between home prices and household incomes is especially striking in San Jose. Although the typical household earns roughly twice the national median, the median home costs nearly five times as much as the national median. As a result, the typical local household earns only about one-third of the income needed to buy a median-priced home.

At the other end of the ranking, these five metros require the lowest salaries:

• Pittsburgh: $71.6K
• Cleveland: $71.9K
• Oklahoma City: $73.7K
• Louisville: $75.8K
• Memphis: $78.3K

Based on 2024 Census data, the latest available by metro area, median household incomes in Oklahoma City and Louisville fell short of the required salaries by less than 2%.

Homebuying Got Easier in the South and West

Compared with Q2 2025, the income needed fell in 30 of the 50 metros as the average 30-year mortgage rate dropped from 6.79% to 6.41%.

However, the required income rose in 13 of the 17 Midwest and Northeast metros, led by St. Louis (+3.8%), Hartford (+3.6%), and Providence (+3.3%). Even Pittsburgh and Cleveland, the two cheapest markets, became less affordable.

New construction helps explain the regional divide. The South and West accounted for 79% of single-family housing starts in 2025, despite holding about 63% of the U.S. population, according to Census Bureau data. All 10 metros where home prices fell were also in those two regions.

The table below shows how the income needed and median home prices changed in each metro from Q2 2025 to Q2 2026:

Metro Area	State	Region	Change, Q2 2025 to Q2 2026 (%)
			Income Needed to Buy a Home	Median Home Price
St. Louis	MO	Midwest	3.76	6.22
Hartford	CT	Northeast	3.56	7.97
Providence	RI	Northeast	3.28	7.43
Pittsburgh	PA	Northeast	2.95	6.78
Milwaukee	WI	Midwest	2.93	6.85
New York City	NY	Northeast	2.53	6.03
Jacksonville	FL	South	2.45	5.43
Detroit	MI	Midwest	2.45	6.09
Cleveland	OH	Midwest	2.44	6.20
Kansas City	MO	Midwest	2.37	4.45
Cincinnati	OH	Midwest	2.18	5.53
Chicago	IL	Midwest	2.05	5.74
San Francisco	CA	West	1.73	5.19
San Diego	CA	West	1.21	4.88
Virginia Beach	VA	South	0.91	3.98
Buffalo	NY	Northeast	0.75	3.45
Richmond	VA	South	0.63	3.79
New Orleans	LA	South	0.46	2.15
Columbus	OH	Midwest	0.18	3.21
Tampa	FL	South	0.16	2.47
Baltimore	MD	South	-0.02	3.01
Memphis	TN	South	-0.03	3.00
Indianapolis	IN	Midwest	-0.39	2.20
Birmingham	AL	South	-0.41	2.95
Philadelphia	PA	Northeast	-0.46	3.73
Miami	FL	South	-0.61	2.01
Louisville	KY	South	-1.06	1.95
Sacramento	CA	West	-1.08	1.82
Charlotte	NC	South	-1.12	0.56
Atlanta	GA	South	-1.43	0.91
Salt Lake City	UT	West	-1.44	2.24
Boston	MA	Northeast	-1.68	1.28
San Antonio	TX	South	-1.80	-0.31
Oklahoma City	OK	South	-1.94	0.15
Washington	DC	South	-1.98	0.92
Orlando	FL	South	-2.04	0.04
Denver	CO	West	-2.27	0.16
Raleigh	NC	South	-2.32	-0.83
Minneapolis	MN	Midwest	-2.35	0.53
Phoenix	AZ	West	-2.57	0.65
Houston	TX	South	-2.60	-1.20
Dallas	TX	South	-2.76	-0.68
Las Vegas	NV	West	-2.85	0.25
Austin	TX	South	-2.89	-1.30
Los Angeles	CA	West	-2.90	0.00
Portland	OR	West	-3.38	-0.60
Riverside/San Bernardino	CA	West	-3.51	-0.82
Nashville	TN	South	-4.17	-1.41
Seattle	WA	West	-4.89	-2.28
San Jose	CA	West	-6.67	-4.16
National Average	—	—	-1.12	1.49

Rising mortgage rates have since erased much of that relief. Freddie Mac’s average 30-year mortgage rate reached 7.40% in October 2026, its highest level since November 2023 and nearly a full percentage point above the Q2 average.

At that rate, buying the national median-priced home would require an annual income of approximately $122.6K, nearly $10K more than the Q2 figure. This illustrates how quickly borrowing costs can change affordability, even without a corresponding increase in home prices.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out Years of Income Needed to Buy a Home by State on Voronoi.

• Source: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/salary-needed-to-buy-a-home-50-us-cities-q2-2026/