Buying a home is already a pretty significant — and stressful — purchase, but tack on the current state of the housing market and the process becomes even more daunting.
ATTOM, a property data provider, ranked the U.S. counties where the highest yearly wages are needed to afford a median-priced home.
As of the second quarter of 2022, the median home price in the U.S. was $440,300, according to Rocket Mortgage.
Overall the report found that prospective buyers needed a minimum salary of $75,000 to afford a median-priced home in about half of the United States housing markets.
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The highest wages needed to afford a home are all in New York and California.
10 U.S. counties where prospective buyers need to earn the most to afford a home
- Manhattan County, N.Y.
- San Mateo County, Calif.
- Marin County, Calif.
- Santa Clara, Calif.
- San Francisco, Calif.
- Santa Cruz County, Calif.
- Alameda County, Calif.
- Orange County, Calif.
- Kings County, N.Y.
- Napa County, Calif.
Manhattan County in New York City is the no. 1 country in the U.S. where buyers need to earn the most to buy a home. Prospective buyers need to earn more than $383,062 annually to afford the average price of a home, according to the ATTOM report.
Money Report
The average New York County home value is $1,199,964, which is actually down 6.3% over the past year.
Manhattan is home to Times Square, Central Park, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and so much more.
San Mateo country in California is ranked second on the list.
San Mateo County is in the middle of a continuous urban area stretching from San Jose (Santa Clara County) in the south to San Francisco County in the north, according to the Employment Development Department of California.
San Mateo is one of nine counties that significantly contribute to the economy of the San Francisco Bay Area.
In May 2023, San Mateo County home prices were down 8.2% compared to last year, selling for a median price of $1.6 million, according to RedFin.
California's Marin County rounds out the top three.
Marin County is just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco and is also included in the San Francisco–Oakland–Berkeley, CA metropolitan statistical area.
Prospective buyers need to earn more than $352,153 annually to afford the average price of a home in the county.
The average Marin County home value is $1,466,631, down 7.4% over the past year, according to Zillow.
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