Affordability-by-city calculator

Affordability is a metro question, not a national one

"Is a $500K house affordable?" depends entirely on where you're buying. In Pittsburgh, $500K buys a 3,500 sq ft historic home in a top school district. In San Francisco, $500K won't buy you anything — the median condo starts above that. National statistics about home affordability mean almost nothing at the individual level; housing is fundamentally local.

This calculator compares your income and down payment capacity across 30 major US metros. It uses median home price, current mortgage rates, and the standard 28% front-end DTI rule to estimate whether you can afford the median home in each market — and how much home you can afford specifically.

How to read the affordability ratio

The "affordability ratio" shown is your monthly housing budget divided by the monthly PITI on the median home in that city.

• 200%+: you can afford twice the median. Plenty of room to buy better-than-average.
• 100–200%: you can afford the median. Comfortable.
• 70–100%: you're below median but can afford something decent. Expect 1–2 bedroom or older homes.
• 50–70%: significant compromise. Starter homes only or longer commutes.
• Under 50%: probably need to rent in this metro or look 30+ minutes out.

The most affordable metros for median incomes

Relative to local wages, these are currently the most affordable large metros in the US (2026 data):

1. Pittsburgh, PA: median home $225K, median income $63K. Price-to-income 3.6x.
2. Indianapolis, IN: $240K / $59K. 4.1x.
3. Kansas City, MO: $265K / $64K. 4.1x.
4. Columbus, OH: $260K / $63K. 4.1x.
5. Philadelphia, PA: $260K / $58K. 4.5x.

The historic "affordable" ratio was 2.5–3x — a home should cost 2.5–3 years of gross income. Post-2020 that moved to 4–5x nationally and 8–10x in the most expensive coastal metros. The cheapest metros today are still 50% more expensive (in price-to-income terms) than the US average was in 1995.

The least affordable metros

1. San Francisco, CA: $1.3M / $125K. 10.4x.
2. Los Angeles, CA: $950K / $76K. 12.5x.
3. San Diego, CA: $950K / $88K. 10.8x.
4. New York, NY: $760K / $76K. 10.0x.
5. Boston, MA: $780K / $89K. 8.8x.
6. Miami, FL: $580K / $55K. 10.5x.

Miami is a special case — home prices rose dramatically post-pandemic as wealthy residents from NYC, Chicago, and abroad relocated, but local incomes haven't kept pace. The ratio is among the worst in the country despite mid-range absolute prices.

Remote work and the affordability arbitrage

The single most powerful financial move for many knowledge workers post-2020 has been moving from an expensive coastal metro to an affordable mid-size city while keeping a remote salary. A software engineer making $200K in SF could move to Pittsburgh, buy 4x the home, cut cost of living 40%, and bank $80K/year of extra savings.

Caveats:

• Some employers reprice salaries by metro. Verify before moving.
• State income tax varies (CA 13.3% top vs. TX/FL 0%).
• Social networks matter. Moving alone to a new metro is real isolation cost.
• Return-to-office reversals can force you back. Rent first if in doubt.

The commute premium

Within any metro, prices drop sharply as you move from center to edge. A 30-minute drive from downtown SF to the East Bay cuts home prices 30–50%. A 45-minute commute from NYC to northern NJ or Long Island cuts 40%. This is often where young families find affordability — in the metro but not in the city.

Tradeoff: commute time compounds. An extra 45 minutes each way is nearly 400 hours/year — a full 10 work weeks. Price in time cost alongside dollar savings.

Rent vs. buy in expensive metros

In the most expensive metros, the rent-vs-buy math often favors renting. A $1M SF condo has PITI around $6,500/month (20% down). Comparable rent: $4,500–$5,500/month. The gap is big enough that investing the difference typically beats buying on a 5-year horizon.

Buying wins when:

• You'll hold for 7+ years
• Local rents are rising faster than home prices
• You value stability and the ability to modify the home
• You're in the top 10–20% of mortgage interest deduction beneficiaries

In cheaper metros with low price-to-rent ratios, buying almost always wins because you're paying PITI that's close to local rent for the same home.

The 28/36 rule applied by city

The traditional rule: housing ≤ 28% of gross income, total debt ≤ 36%. In practice, here's what that means for a $100K household across metros (assuming 20% down, 6.75% rate):

• At 28% DTI: $2,333/month housing budget → can afford ~$310K home
• Affordable in: Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Columbus, Detroit, Philadelphia, some Houston/Dallas submarkets
• Not affordable in: any CA metro, NYC, Boston, Miami, Seattle, Denver, Austin median homes

Relocation decision checklist

1. Can you keep (or grow) your income in the new metro?
2. What's the after-tax income change including state tax differences?
3. Are comparable schools, healthcare, and amenities available?
4. Do you have (or can you build) a social/professional network?
5. How does cost-of-living beyond housing compare? (Groceries, transportation, healthcare)
6. Is the housing market growing or stagnant? (Resale risk in dying metros)

Related calculators

Once you've picked a metro, use our mortgage payment calculator to model specific properties and the DTI calculator to verify qualifying ratios.