
Finding a home for the right price is never easy, no matter where you live in the U.S. However, a new report from Zillow shows that some major markets are having significantly more luck finding affordable homes than others.
While “affordable” can certainly be subjective (mortgage payments across the country have more than doubled in the last five years), more homes have begun to become well within the reach of a typical resident making a median income in the U.S.
This is especially true for many cities east of the Mississippi River, where many major cities are seeing more than half of their available homes being considered affordable for median-income households.
Rounding at the top of the list is the city of Buffalo, N.Y., where roughly 55 percent of the homes listed there are considered affordable. Not far behind is St. Louis with 54.5 percent, followed by Pittsburgh at 54.3 percent, says Zillow.
Here’s the list of the top 10 cities where more affordable homes are starting to appear.
Rank | City | % of homes considered affordable to median-income residents |
---|---|---|
1. | Buffalo, N.Y. | 55.1% |
2. | St. Louis | 54.5% |
3. | Pittsburgh | 54.3% |
4. | Detroit | 52.8% |
5. | Cleveland | 50.1% |
6. | Indianapolis | 48.5% |
7. | Baltimore | 48.1% |
8. | Cincinnati | 46.1% |
9. | Birmingham | 45.1% |
10. | Minneapolis | 43.2% |
On the other end of the spectrum, residents who live in the western part of the country (particularly California) aren’t seeing as many affordable homes becoming available to them.
According to Zillow, only 3 percent of homes listed in the Los Angeles area are considered affordable to residents who make median incomes. San Diego follows LA as having the second-lowest rate of affordable homes, at 6.4 percent.
And while the majority of the eastern part of the U.S. has more success finding affordable homes, residents who live in the New England area of the country are also having bad luck.
Only 9.1 percent of homes near Providence, R.I., are in the price range of median-income residents, with Boston residents not far behind at 11.9 percent.
Here’s where the residents are having the least amount of luck finding affordable housing in the U.S.:
Rank | City | % of homes considered affordable to median income residents |
---|---|---|
1. | Los Angeles | 3% |
2. | San Diego | 6.4% |
3. | Providence, R.I. | 9.1% |
4. | Sacramento, Calif. | 11.3% |
5. | San Jose, Calif. | 11.4% |
6. | Boston | 11.9% |
7. | New York | 12.5% |
8. | Riverside, Calif. | 13.2% |
9. | San Francisco | 13.6% |
10. | Seattle | 15.5% |