• Live Feeds
    • Press Releases
    • Insider Trading
    • FDA Approvals
    • Analyst Ratings
    • Insider Trading
    • SEC filings
    • Market insights
  • Analyst Ratings
  • Alerts
  • Subscriptions
  • Settings
  • RSS Feeds
Quantisnow Logo
  • Live Feeds
    • Press Releases
    • Insider Trading
    • FDA Approvals
    • Analyst Ratings
    • Insider Trading
    • SEC filings
    • Market insights
  • Analyst Ratings
  • Alerts
  • Subscriptions
  • Settings
  • RSS Feeds
PublishDashboard
    Quantisnow Logo

    © 2025 quantisnow.com
    Democratizing insights since 2022

    Services
    Live news feedsRSS FeedsAlertsPublish with Us
    Company
    AboutQuantisnow PlusContactJobsAI employees
    Legal
    Terms of usePrivacy policyCookie policy

    Buyers need a $17,000 raise to afford a home

    6/30/25 8:00:00 AM ET
    $Z
    $ZG
    Business Services
    Consumer Discretionary
    Business Services
    Consumer Discretionary
    Get the next $Z alert in real time by email

    Even with a $73,000 down payment, median earners would require a pay increase to afford the monthly mortgage

    • A median-income family would need a $17,670 raise to afford the mortgage payments on a typical U.S. home.
    • In four California markets, median earners would require a six-figure raise to afford the typical home.
    • Currently, median earners can afford the typical home in just 11 major markets, down from 39 markets five years ago.

    SEATTLE, June 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Five years ago, a median-income household could afford a typical U.S. home. Today, they're more than $17,000 short, even if they have $73,000 saved for a down payment, a new Zillow® analysis finds.

    Zillow logo (PRNewsfoto/Zillow Group)

    While the housing market is friendlier to buyers this spring, with more homes for sale and a record number of sellers cutting their list prices, incredible home value growth and higher mortgage rates in recent years have reset the financial bar for homeownership. Affordability pressures have helped chill buyer demand, while amping up interest in single-family rentals. 

    "Affordability remains a steep hill to climb, especially for first-time buyers," said Kara Ng, senior economist at Zillow. "While the financial bar has gotten higher, we're also in the middle of the most buyer-friendly spring since before the pandemic for those who can make the finances work. Inventory is up, prices are softening, and sellers are negotiating. To make homeownership more broadly accessible, though, we need lasting solutions, starting with policies that allow more homes to be built in the right places."

    To comfortably afford a typical U.S. home worth $367,969, a buyer today needs to make nearly $100,000 a year, assuming they have $73,594 saved for a 20% down payment.[1] That means a household making the median income would need a $17,670 raise.[2] If that same household only has enough savings for a 10% down payment, they'd require a pay increase of $36,287.

    Median earners would need six-figure raises in four major metro areas, all of which are in California. Even with a whopping $330,000 saved for a 20% down payment, a median-income household in San Jose would need a raise of more than $250,000 to afford the typical home. Median-income households would also need six-figure raises in San Francisco ($165,566), Los Angeles ($149,375) and San Diego ($128,954).

    There are 11 major markets where the median income is enough to afford the typical mortgage payment, down from 39 such markets five years ago. These are generally midsize markets in the Midwest and Northeast. Median earners in Cleveland have the most room to spare, making $11,588 more than what's needed to afford the typical home, followed by Pittsburgh ($11,244), St. Louis ($4,897) and Cincinnati ($4,396).

    As affordability headwinds have stiffened for would-be first-time buyers, renters are aging and demand for single-family rentals has been rising. These homes now rent for 41% more than five years ago, compared to 30% growth for multifamily units.

    To make the finances work, buyers are looking under every rock to come up with a down payment. More than half of buyers tap at least two sources. The most common sources of down payment funding are savings (72% of buyers), the sale of a previous home (46%) and a gift or loan from family or friends (38%). Home listings on Zillow include a down payment assistance module to help shoppers see what local resources may be available to them.

    Metro Area*

    Raise Needed to Afford

    a Typical Mortgage

    Payment (20% Down)

    Typical Home

    Value

    Typical Mortgage

    Payment (20%

    Down)

    Median

    Income

    United States

    $17,670

    $367,969

    $1,922

    $82,168

    New York, NY

    $99,343

    $705,108

    $3,683

    $102,042

    Los Angeles, CA

    $149,375

    $973,190

    $5,084

    $98,204

    Chicago, IL

    -$187

    $341,695

    $1,785

    $92,838

    Dallas, TX

    $17,448

    $377,186

    $1,970

    $92,403

    Houston, TX

    $6,304

    $314,262

    $1,642

    $84,254

    Washington, DC

    $26,513

    $587,645

    $3,070

    $129,410

    Philadelphia, PA

    $16,344

    $382,466

    $1,998

    $91,803

    Miami, FL

    $59,379

    $482,204

    $2,519

    $81,901

    Atlanta, GA

    $14,735

    $389,097

    $2,033

    $92,240

    Boston, MA

    $78,703

    $733,270

    $3,831

    $117,605

    Phoenix, AZ

    $22,500

    $456,834

    $2,386

    $90,936

    San Francisco, CA

    $165,566

    $1,165,757

    $6,090

    $135,311

    Riverside, CA

    $60,685

    $591,424

    $3,090

    $94,263

    Detroit, MI

    -$1,804

    $264,707

    $1,383

    $76,598

    Seattle, WA

    $84,356

    $767,553

    $4,010

    $118,074

    Minneapolis, MN

    $8,627

    $389,105

    $2,033

    $100,980

    San Diego, CA

    $128,954

    $945,140

    $4,937

    $111,160

    Tampa, FL

    $27,198

    $368,374

    $1,924

    $77,567

    Denver, CO

    $43,588

    $592,884

    $3,097

    $109,707

    Baltimore, MD

    $8,104

    $402,127

    $2,101

    $100,217

    St. Louis, MO

    -$4,897

    $269,589

    $1,408

    $82,664

    Orlando, FL

    $26,497

    $393,884

    $2,058

    $83,211

    Charlotte, NC

    $15,302

    $390,896

    $2,042

    $86,836

    San Antonio, TX

    $8,064

    $286,497

    $1,497

    $77,645

    Portland, OR

    $48,708

    $561,374

    $2,933

    $101,275

    Sacramento, CA

    $53,660

    $590,697

    $3,086

    $101,854

    Pittsburgh, PA

    -$11,244

    $226,889

    $1,185

    $76,870

    Cincinnati, OH

    -$4,396

    $301,042

    $1,573

    $82,822

    Austin, TX

    $27,545

    $451,858

    $2,360

    $104,736

    Las Vegas, NV

    $29,140

    $440,327

    $2,300

    $80,966

    Kansas City, MO

    $7,383

    $319,698

    $1,670

    $84,445

    Columbus, OH

    $2,561

    $330,668

    $1,727

    $82,062

    Indianapolis, IN

    -$3,052

    $291,507

    $1,523

    $83,089

    Cleveland, OH

    -$11,588

    $243,743

    $1,273

    $72,083

    San Jose, CA

    $251,597

    $1,649,985

    $8,619

    $162,837

    Nashville, TN

    $25,508

    $459,668

    $2,401

    $90,907

    Virginia Beach, VA

    $13,898

    $363,937

    $1,901

    $84,756

    Providence, RI

    $50,418

    $507,954

    $2,654

    $88,937

    Jacksonville, FL

    $19,202

    $357,233

    $1,866

    $80,999

    Milwaukee, WI

    $36,519

    $374,133

    $1,954

    $82,182

    Oklahoma City, OK

    -$2,201

    $242,405

    $1,266

    $74,291

    Raleigh, NC

    $16,602

    $450,409

    $2,353

    $102,629

    Memphis, TN

    $807

    $246,017

    $1,285

    $68,015

    Richmond, VA

    $12,816

    $388,273

    $2,028

    $90,355

    Louisville, KY

    -$855

    $271,731

    $1,420

    $73,137

    New Orleans, LA

    $10,543

    $253,141

    $1,322

    $65,252

    Salt Lake City, UT

    $40,038

    $559,930

    $2,925

    $100,944

    Hartford, CT

    $16,104

    $384,822

    $2,010

    $98,311

    Buffalo, NY

    -$3,137

    $276,444

    $1,444

    $74,456

    Birmingham, AL

    -$3,933

    $257,856

    $1,347

    $73,663

    *Table ordered by market size 

    About Zillow Group

    Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:Z) is reimagining real estate to make home a reality for more and more people. As the most visited real estate app and website in the United States, Zillow and its affiliates help people find and get the home they want by connecting them with digital solutions, dedicated real estate professionals, and easier buying, selling, financing, and renting experiences.

    Zillow Group's affiliates, subsidiaries and brands include Zillow®, Zillow Premier Agent®, Zillow Home Loans℠, Zillow Rentals®, Trulia®, Out East®, StreetEasy®, HotPads®, ShowingTime+℠, Spruce®, and Follow Up Boss®.

    All marks herein are owned by MFTB Holdco, Inc., a Zillow affiliate. Zillow Home Loans, LLC is an Equal Housing Lender, NMLS #10287 (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org). © 2025 MFTB Holdco, Inc., a Zillow affiliate.

    1 To be considered affordable, a monthly mortgage payment must account for no more than 30% of household income.

    2 Median household income is taken from the American Community Survey (ACS) through 2023. Present-day estimates combine changes in the Employment Cost Index provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to forecast current median household income.

    Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/buyers-need-a-17-000-raise-to-afford-a-home-302493651.html

    SOURCE Zillow

    Get the next $Z alert in real time by email

    Chat with this insight

    Save time and jump to the most important pieces.

    Recent Analyst Ratings for
    $Z
    $ZG

    CompanyDatePrice TargetRatingAnalyst
    Zillow Group Inc.
    $ZG
    4/28/2025$62.00Equal Weight
    Wells Fargo
    Zillow Group Inc.
    $ZG
    4/21/2025Mkt Perform
    William Blair
    Zillow Group Inc.
    $Z
    3/28/2025$80.00Mkt Perform
    Keefe Bruyette
    Zillow Group Inc.
    $ZG
    2/3/2025$100.00Sector Weight → Overweight
    KeyBanc Capital Markets
    Zillow Group Inc.
    $ZG
    1/31/2025$88.00Neutral
    Robert W. Baird
    Zillow Group Inc.
    $ZG
    9/16/2024$50.00 → $80.00Neutral → Outperform
    Wedbush
    Zillow Group Inc.
    $ZG
    9/5/2024$47.00Neutral
    Cantor Fitzgerald
    Zillow Group Inc.
    $ZG
    1/10/2024Buy → Neutral
    BofA Securities
    More analyst ratings