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?

Key Takeaways

• San Jose requires the highest salary to buy a median-priced home at $492.4K, nearly seven times the $71.6K needed in Pittsburgh.

• Buyers need a six-figure salary in 32 of the 50 major U.S. metros, including more than $200K in seven.

• Just two metros, Pittsburgh and Cleveland, have median household incomes above the salary needed to buy a home.

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:

RankMetro AreaQ2 2026 (USD)

Income Needed to Buy a HomeMedian Home PriceMonthly Payment

1San Jose492,3642,050,00011,489

2San Francisco367,9731,500,0008,586

3San Diego256,7351,075,0005,990

4Los Angeles215,136879,9005,020

5New York City213,791802,4004,988

6Boston212,586844,6004,960

7Seattle200,835815,0004,686

8Washington174,110688,2004,063

9Miami164,691659,0003,843

10Denver161,920668,3003,778

11Portland151,400611,1003,533

12Providence150,771580,9003,518

13Riverside/San Bernardino149,302605,0003,484

14Sacramento142,726560,0003,330

15Salt Lake City142,461601,2003,324

16Austin138,268485,4003,226

17Hartford127,510456,7002,975

18Chicago121,817438,6002,842

19Milwaukee119,354466,5002,785

20Baltimore118,198458,4002,758

21Raleigh116,261466,7002,713

22Orlando115,986450,0002,706

23Las Vegas115,133486,3002,686

24Philadelphia113,570419,8002,650

25Phoenix113,144477,7002,640

26Richmond112,640460,4002,628

27Dallas110,651380,1002,582

28Minneapolis108,829414,3002,539

29Jacksonville108,295417,5002,527

30Tampa107,829415,0002,516

31Charlotte107,287434,0002,503

32Nashville103,046420,9002,404

33Houston99,848345,2002,330

34Atlanta99,594387,0002,324

35Virginia Beach97,743387,0002,281

36Kansas City96,683370,6002,256

37Columbus95,705363,1002,233

38San Antonio92,337316,5002,155

39Cincinnati87,772341,5002,048

40Birmingham85,983352,2002,006

41Indianapolis85,826343,9002,003

42St. Louis83,886314,1001,957

43Buffalo83,772287,8001,955

44Detroit82,913311,8001,935

45New Orleans80,193304,2001,871

46Memphis78,344308,9001,828

47Louisville75,811297,4001,769

48Oklahoma City73,747269,9001,721

49Cleveland71,871258,5001,677

50Pittsburgh71,567267,7001,670

-- National Average112,695434,9002,630

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 AreaStateRegionChange, Q2 2025 to Q2 2026 (%)

Income Needed to Buy a HomeMedian Home Price

St. LouisMOMidwest3.766.22

HartfordCTNortheast3.567.97

ProvidenceRINortheast3.287.43

PittsburghPANortheast2.956.78

MilwaukeeWIMidwest2.936.85

New York CityNYNortheast2.536.03

JacksonvilleFLSouth2.455.43

DetroitMIMidwest2.456.09

ClevelandOHMidwest2.446.20

Kansas CityMOMidwest2.374.45

CincinnatiOHMidwest2.185.53

ChicagoILMidwest2.055.74

San FranciscoCAWest1.735.19

San DiegoCAWest1.214.88

Virginia BeachVASouth0.913.98

BuffaloNYNortheast0.753.45

RichmondVASouth0.633.79

New OrleansLASouth0.462.15

ColumbusOHMidwest0.183.21

TampaFLSouth0.162.47

BaltimoreMDSouth-0.023.01

MemphisTNSouth-0.033.00

IndianapolisINMidwest-0.392.20

BirminghamALSouth-0.412.95

PhiladelphiaPANortheast-0.463.73

MiamiFLSouth-0.612.01

LouisvilleKYSouth-1.061.95

SacramentoCAWest-1.081.82

CharlotteNCSouth-1.120.56

AtlantaGASouth-1.430.91

Salt Lake CityUTWest-1.442.24

BostonMANortheast-1.681.28

San AntonioTXSouth-1.80-0.31

Oklahoma CityOKSouth-1.940.15

WashingtonDCSouth-1.980.92

OrlandoFLSouth-2.040.04

DenverCOWest-2.270.16

RaleighNCSouth-2.32-0.83

MinneapolisMNMidwest-2.350.53

PhoenixAZWest-2.570.65

HoustonTXSouth-2.60-1.20

DallasTXSouth-2.76-0.68

Las VegasNVWest-2.850.25

AustinTXSouth-2.89-1.30

Los AngelesCAWest-2.900.00

PortlandORWest-3.38-0.60

Riverside/San BernardinoCAWest-3.51-0.82

NashvilleTNSouth-4.17-1.41

SeattleWAWest-4.89-2.28

San JoseCAWest-6.67-4.16

National Average-----1.121.49

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.

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