--- description: New data says that a home owner needs a minimum salary of $48,603 to afford a median-priced house in the U.S., given a 20% down payment. title: This Is The Salary You Need To Afford a Home In America image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16c804bb2a264822/698782c1a988ca6d266acd80/159087137.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [real estate](/tag/real-estate/) ## real estate Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Is The Salary You Must Earn to Afford a Home in America by [Sabrina Toppa](/author/sabrina-toppa/) ## Sabrina Toppa Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 9, 2015 9:08 AM CUT  David Papazian—Getty Images by [Sabrina Toppa](/author/sabrina-toppa/) ## Sabrina Toppa Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 9, 2015 9:08 AM CUT To afford a typical house in the U.S., a homebuyer [needs](http://www.hsh.com/finance/mortgage/salary-home-buying-25-cities.html "undefined") a [minimum salary](https://time.com/personal-finance/article/percentage-of-income-mortgage/ "undefined") of $48,603 as well as a 20% downpayment, according to new research from mortgage publisher HSH.com. HSH.com calculated the [minimum salary](https://time.com/personal-finance/article/percentage-of-income-mortgage/ "undefined") a buyer must earn to pay the principal, interest, insurance and taxes associated with home purchases across 27 metropolitan areas, using fourth-quarter data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and [average interest rates](https://time.com/personal-finance/article/historical-mortgage-rates/ "undefined") for fixed-rate, 30-year mortgages. “Home prices in metro areas throughout the country continue to show solid price growth, up 25% over the past three years on average,” NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun told HSH. San Francisco continues to top the list of most unaffordable cities, requiring a buyer to be paid $142,448, while New York City only requires $87,535; Boston, $80,049; Washington, D.C., $77,394 and Chicago $54,346. If you want the most bang for your buck, head to Pittsburgh, where you’ll be fine with $31,716; Cleveland, $32,010; St. Louis, $33,323; or Cincinnati, $33,485. [_Take a look at the complete list here._](http://www.hsh.com/finance/mortgage/salary-home-buying-25-cities.html "undefined") _Read next:_ [_These Are the Best (and Worst) States for Business_](http://time.com/3730598/these-are-the-best-and-worst-states-for-business/?xid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") ### See the 10 Healthiest Cities to Live in America  Honolulu, Hawaii Best Place for Lifelong Health The heavenly climate helps, but the key to well-being here also includes enviable health care and a rich cultural tradition of looking out for one another. Colin Anderson—Blend Images/Corbis  San Francisco Bay Area, Calif. Best Place for Eating Right. The "farm to table" movement began here. The region's bounty of produce and year-round growing season make eating healthy—and local—a natural. Getty Images  Burlington, Vt. Best Place for Raising Healthy Kids This New England city offers great schools, excellent pediatric care, loads of culture and limitless options for healthy outdoor fun all year long. Matt Hogan/www.mphoganphoto.com  Silicon Valley, Calif. Best Place for Workplace Wellness With treadmill desks, meetings on bikes, time off for creativity, and gobs of organic food, tech titans are reinventing how to stay healthy on the job. Jim Wilson—The New York Times/Redux  Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn. Best Place for Aging Well Yes, it can be cold. But with a plethora of stimulating activities and a robust web of support, the Twin Cities prove that growing old doesn't mean slowing down. Getty Images  Denver and Boulder, Colo. Best Place for Keeping Fit The urge to get outside and get moving is contagious in these Rocky Mountain cities, where physical challenge is built into the landscape. Celin Serbo—Aurora Photos/Corbis  Plano, Texas Best Place for Staying Safe Once a rural outpost, this booming, diverse city has kept its small-town vibe, thanks in part to a police force and community that knows how to work together. Misty Keasler—Redux for TIME  Portland, Ore. Best Place for a Healthy Environment Small, walkable neighborhoods, 300 miles of bike paths, and urban policies that foster active living and sustainability make for one clean, green city. Getty Images  Boston, Mass. Best Place for Health Care This history-rich city is home to some of the nation's most advanced medical institutions and policies that help ensure that quality care is available to all. K.C. Cohen—Courtesy of Boston Children's Hospital  Provo and Orem, Utah Best Place for Spiritual Well-Being A stunning Rocky Mountain backdrop and a tight-knit population that lives its faith contribute not only to this region's serenity but also to lower rates of disease. Getty Images [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3736925/this-is-the-salary-you-need-to-afford-a-home-in-america/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3736925/this-is-the-salary-you-need-to-afford-a-home-in-america/"},"headline":"This Is The Salary You Must Earn to Afford a Home in America","datePublished":"2015-03-09T09:08:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:49:42.297Z","description":"A homebuyer needs to earn $48,603 to afford a median-priced property, report says","url":"https://time.com/3736925/this-is-the-salary-you-need-to-afford-a-home-in-america/","keywords":["real estate","Economy","salary","home ownership","property"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16c804bb2a264822/698782c1a988ca6d266acd80/159087137.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sabrina Toppa","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/sabrina-toppa/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16c804bb2a264822/698782c1a988ca6d266acd80/159087137.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Home","caption":"Home","creditText":"David Papazian—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/real-estate/","name":"real estate"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3736925/this-is-the-salary-you-need-to-afford-a-home-in-america/","name":"This Is The Salary You Must Earn to Afford a Home in America"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Ask the Expert: Getting Ready to Buy a Home","description":"Century 21 Real Estate CEO Rick Davidson talks about the importance of checking your credit report and getting pre-approved for a mortgage.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/VKQr8f6R/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-10-01T16:38:06.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/VKQr8f6R.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3736925/this-is-the-salary-you-need-to-afford-a-home-in-america/","duration":"PT1M14S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3736925/this-is-the-salary-you-need-to-afford-a-home-in-america/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```