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).

This ratio is a widely-used affordability benchmark. It measures how many years of the typical household's gross income would be required to purchase the typical home in that state. A ratio of 3× means a home costs three times annual household income — a level historically associated with affordable housing markets. The rule of thumb that a home should cost no more than 3× annual income originates from conventional mortgage underwriting standards.

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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