Housing Affordability · United States · Updated May 2026

Least affordable US states — price-to-income ratio

The price-to-income ratio divides median home value by median household income. A higher ratio means less affordable. Hawaii is the least affordable at 8.4×. Data: ACS 5-Year 2024.

The national median price-to-income ratio is 3.9×. Any state below this level offers relatively better value for homebuyers. Any state above it means residents are spending a larger share of income to achieve homeownership compared to the typical American.

These rankings use the 2024 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, covering the period 2020–2024. Median home value and median household income are measured at the state level. The ratio is computed as median home value ÷ median household income.

All 50 states + DC ranked

Least affordable states — complete ranking

The least affordable states are overwhelmingly in the West and Northeast, where demand has outpaced income growth for decades. Hawaii (8.4×), California (7.4×), Oregon (5.8×) lead the least affordable tier. Midwestern and Southern states consistently offer better value relative to local incomes.

A ratio below 3× is generally considered affordable by housing economists. Between 3× and 5× indicates a strained market. Above 5× — the level seen in Hawaii, California, and Massachusetts — represents a severe affordability crisis where homeownership is effectively out of reach for median-income households without substantial outside assistance.

State Ratio Median Price Median Income

1 Hawaii 8.4× $839,100 $100,389 2 California 7.4× $734,700 $99,122 3 District of Columbia 6.7× $737,100 $109,870 4 Oregon 5.8× $477,600 $83,011 5 Washington 5.8× $564,600 $98,141 6 Nevada 5.6× $435,400 $78,260 7 Colorado 5.6× $539,400 $95,470 8 Idaho 5.4× $418,600 $77,800 9 Massachusetts 5.4× $562,100 $103,960 10 Montana 5.2× $375,800 $72,509 11 Utah 5.1× $489,400 $95,166 12 New York 4.9× $423,800 $85,974 13 Arizona 4.9× $394,500 $79,964 14 Florida 4.8× $359,000 $74,568 15 Rhode Island 4.6× $404,200 $87,796 16 New Jersey 4.4× $454,400 $103,556 17 Delaware 4.1× $352,000 $84,954 18 Maryland 4.1× $419,900 $103,678 19 New Hampshire 4.1× $402,500 $99,031 20 Tennessee 4.1× $286,700 $69,595 21 Virginia 4.1× $383,700 $93,170 22 Wyoming 4.1× $309,700 $76,176 23 Maine 4× $296,600 $74,733 24 North Carolina 4× $288,900 $72,388 25 Georgia 3.9× $303,300 $77,353 26 New Mexico 3.9× $248,100 $64,059 27 Vermont 3.9× $316,600 $81,203 28 Alaska 3.8× $352,900 $92,788 29 Connecticut 3.8× $366,900 $95,781 30 Minnesota 3.7× $329,300 $89,062 31 South Carolina 3.7× $259,000 $69,324 32 Louisiana 3.6× $216,500 $60,756 33 Texas 3.6× $283,800 $78,476 34 South Dakota 3.4× $257,400 $75,081 35 Wisconsin 3.4× $266,500 $77,485 36 Missouri 3.3× $230,300 $70,702 37 North Dakota 3.3× $249,900 $76,657 38 Pennsylvania 3.3× $254,500 $77,971 39 Alabama 3.3× $209,900 $63,999 40 Illinois 3.2× $263,300 $83,390 41 Kentucky 3.2× $205,600 $63,726 42 Michigan 3.2× $231,600 $72,875 43 Nebraska 3.1× $238,600 $76,475 44 Oklahoma 3.1× $199,800 $65,039 45 Arkansas 3.1× $188,000 $60,773 46 Indiana 3× $218,200 $71,957 47 Mississippi 3× $169,800 $56,447 48 Ohio 3× $214,800 $71,389 49 Kansas 2.9× $217,200 $74,275 50 Iowa 2.8× $208,000 $75,059 51 West Virginia 2.7× $162,600 $59,608

Methodology

How the price-to-income ratio is calculated

The price-to-income ratio is calculated by dividing the median home value by the median household income for each state. Both figures come from the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, 2024 release (covering survey years 2020–2024).

Unaffordable states share a structural pattern: land is geographically or legally constrained (coastal topography, strict zoning), in-migration has been high and persistent, and local incomes — even when elevated — have not kept pace with price appreciation driven by the top of the wage distribution. The household at the income median competes against buyers at the 70th or 80th income percentile in these markets.

Limitations: the ratio uses state-level medians, which can mask significant variation within states. A state like California has affordable inland counties alongside severely unaffordable coastal metros. For county-level data, use the interactive map.

Data source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (2024). Supplemented with FHFA House Price Index for county-level trend data.

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