The typical American household is $19,700 short. That is the gap between the $80,000 median household income and the roughly $99,700 in gross annual pay needed to buy the median-priced US home in 2026, according to an affordability analysis by Wealthvieu.
The bottom line: in 29 of 50 states, the median household cannot comfortably afford the median home.
How the math works
Wealthvieu’s calculation assumes a 30-year fixed mortgage at 7.40% and a 20% down payment, with housing costs held to 28% of gross income. On a $420,000 home that means $84,000 down, a $336,000 loan and a principal-and-interest payment of $2,326 a month. Divide by 0.28, multiply by 12, and the answer is $99,700. Property taxes, insurance and HOA fees are not in that number.
A rule of thumb from the analysis: at 7.40% with 20% down, the income needed comes to about 23.7% of the purchase price. A $400,000 home takes roughly $95,000. A $600,000 home takes $142,500.
Where the gap is widest
Hawaii and California both top $91,000. Hawaii’s median home costs $820,000, which works out to a $4,542 monthly payment after a $164,000 down payment. Income needed: $194,700, against a state median of $93,000.
California’s median price is $760,000 and the payment is $4,210. The required income of $180,400 is about double the state’s $89,000 median.
Massachusetts, Colorado, New York and Washington cluster together, with gaps of $37,000 to $42,000. Buyers there need between $117,000 and $138,000, while median households earn $78,000 to $96,000. Colorado’s median price has reached $540,000 after a wave of remote-work migration. Massachusetts sits at $580,000, but its $96,000 median income leaves it with about the same gap.
Where income still covers it
Twenty states show a surplus, and South Dakota sits at zero. Iowa leads at $16,600 of headroom: a $225,000 median price needs $53,400 in income, and households earn $70,000. West Virginia has the nation’s cheapest median home at $175,000, which takes $41,500 to afford. Kansas and North Dakota follow, with surpluses of $13,400 and $13,300.
Wealthvieu adds a caveat. A surplus does not make buying easy. Incomes in many of these states run between $52,000 and $70,000, and a household earning $50,000 still has to budget tightly around a $225,000 mortgage.
Down payments and rates
Most first-time buyers cannot put 20% down. With 5% down on the median home, the required income climbs to about $118,400, or $38,400 above what the median household earns. Private mortgage insurance, typically required below 20% down, adds $100 to $250 a month.
Prices are the first driver. Wealthvieu says the national median rose roughly 45% to 50% between 2020 and 2026. Rates are the second. They went from under 3% in 2021 to between about 6% and 7.8% since 2023. A buyer who could afford a $350,000 house at 3% in 2021 can afford about $213,000 on the same income at 7.40%.
Homeowners holding mortgages below 3% are not selling, which keeps inventory tight and prices high. At 5.5% instead of 7.40%, the income needed on a $420,000 home would fall from $99,700 to about $81,800, close to the median household’s $80,000.
