This Is the Most Affordable Housing Market In Every State

Amid rising demand and ongoing supply shortages, home prices have surged in the United States in recent years. The typical home for sale in the U.S. is listed for $424,900, up over 40% from early 2020, before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic fallout. When compared against wage increases, rising home […] The post This Is the Most Affordable Housing Market In Every State appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

Apr 14, 2025 - 19:07

This Is the Most Affordable Housing Market In Every State

Amid rising demand and ongoing supply shortages, home prices have surged in the United States in recent years. The typical home for sale in the U.S. is listed for $424,900, up over 40% from early 2020, before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic fallout. When compared against wage increases, rising home prices are even more alarming.

24/7 Wall St. Key Points:

America’s housing affordability crisis has continued into 2025, and according to a recent study, an estimated 75% of U.S. households are unable to afford a home in today’s market.
Still, location matters when it comes to real estate, and in certain parts of the country, homeownership remains affordable for a relatively large share of the population.
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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, median inflation-adjusted earnings climbed by only 2% between the beginning of 2020 and late 2024 — while the Case-Shiller home price index rose by more than 50% over roughly the same period. This imbalance has only continued in 2025. According to data from Realtor.com, the typical home list price climbed 6% from January to March 2035. Meanwhile, real wages for American workers climbed by only 0.1% in February and 0.3% in March of this year.

These trends, spread out over the course of years, have given way to a housing affordability crisis. A recent study from the National Association of Home Builders found that, when factoring in mortgage rates and borrowing costs, nearly 75% of American households would be unable to afford a typical home in today’s market.

Notably, however, perhaps more so than in any other domestic industry, location matters when it comes to real estate. And in some parts of the country, the mismatch between incomes and home prices is far less pronounced than it is nationwide.

Using county-level data from Realtor.com, 24/7 Wall St. identified the most affordable housing market in each state. We reviewed the median list price in March 2025 for over 3,000 U.S. counties and county equivalents and calculated the local housing affordability ratio using five year estimates of median household income from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. To avoid statistical anomalies, only counties with at least 100 listed homes in March 2025 were considered.

Among the counties and county equivalents on this list, median list prices are anywhere from 1.6 to 6.5 times higher than the median household income. In every case, homes in these areas are more affordable than they are across the state as a whole — and in all but six counties on this list, the homeownership affordability ratio is more favorable than the 5.4-to-1 national average. (Here is a look at the states with the highest foreclosure rates.)

Housing affordability is the product of two factors: income and home prices. As a result, even in wealthy areas, housing can be unaffordable if home prices are high enough. Similarly, a county with below average home prices can also be unaffordable if incomes are low enough. Notably, in most counties on this list, not only are incomes higher than they are across the state as a whole, but home prices are also lower than they are statewide. (This is how Baby Boomers impacted the housing market for younger buyers.)

These are the most affordable housing markets in each state.

Why It Matters

Supply constraints and rising demand have given way to a housing affordability crisis in the United States. Not even considering historically high mortgage rates, the typical American home has a median list price that is over five times more than what the typical household earns in a year. Notably, however, some parts of the country appear to have been somewhat spared from the housing crisis. In these places, home prices are more closely tied to incomes than is common in much of the rest of the country.