In San Francisco, home buyers need to earn $147,996 a year to afford the city’s median home price of $781,600, according to mortgage website HSH.com. Out of 27 major metros analyzed by the site, San Francisco requires the highest salary in order to pay for the mortgage principal, interest, taxes, and insurance payments on a median-priced home
By comparison, home buyers in Detroit only need to earn $36,915 annually to afford the median home price of $148,667 there.
Home buyers who want to live out West will need to earn the most to afford a home, the survey found. Data from the National Association of REALTORS® shows the following median home prices in 2015 across the four major geographic areas in the U.S.:
- Northeast: $262,500
- Midwest: $175,500
- South: $196,400
- West: $319,100
Check out this 3D map from How Much, a cost information website, which used the HSH.com data to break down how much home buyers need to earn in each of the 27 metros analyzed.
Source: “This 3D Map Shows How Much You Must Earn to Buy a Home in 27 Major U.S. Metros,” Howmuch.net (April 5, 2016)