The salary you need to afford the median home, state by state
Every number below is a simulation, not a payment ratio: the lowest household income at which buying the state's typical home still leaves at least 85% of 1,000 simulated futures on track for financial independence by age 60 — with market crashes, layoffs that cluster in downturns, the full cost of owning, and each state's actual 2025 income tax modeled. It is a deliberately conservative standard: what you can buy without giving up retiring on time, which is a different and harder question than what a lender will approve.
All fifty states and D.C., ranked
| # | State | Typical home (2025) | Salary needed | Home ÷ salary | All-in monthly cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaii | $850,000 | $345K | 2.5× | $5,874/mo |
| 2 | California | $790,000 | $340K | 2.3× | $5,474/mo |
| 3 | Washington, D.C. | $720,000 | $330K | 2.2× | $5,007/mo |
| 4 | Massachusetts | $650,000 | $315K | 2.1× | $4,539/mo |
| 5 | Oregon | $500,000 | $305K | 1.6× | $3,538/mo |
| 6 | Colorado | $550,000 | $300K | 1.8× | $3,872/mo |
| 7 | New Jersey | $550,000 | $300K | 1.8× | $3,872/mo |
| 8 | Utah | $530,000 | $300K | 1.8× | $3,738/mo |
| 9 | New York | $480,000 | $295K | 1.6× | $3,404/mo |
| 10 | Washington | $600,000 | $295K | 2.0× | $4,205/mo |
| 11 | Idaho | $460,000 | $290K | 1.6× | $3,271/mo |
| 12 | Montana | $470,000 | $290K | 1.6× | $3,338/mo |
| 13 | Rhode Island | $480,000 | $290K | 1.7× | $3,404/mo |
| 14 | Connecticut | $420,000 | $285K | 1.5× | $3,004/mo |
| 15 | Maine | $400,000 | $285K | 1.4× | $2,870/mo |
| 16 | Maryland | $430,000 | $285K | 1.5× | $3,071/mo |
| 17 | Delaware | $390,000 | $280K | 1.4× | $2,804/mo |
| 18 | New Hampshire | $500,000 | $280K | 1.8× | $3,538/mo |
| 19 | Vermont | $410,000 | $280K | 1.5× | $2,937/mo |
| 20 | Virginia | $400,000 | $280K | 1.4× | $2,870/mo |
| 21 | Arizona | $430,000 | $265K | 1.6× | $3,071/mo |
| 22 | Nevada | $460,000 | $260K | 1.8× | $3,271/mo |
| 23 | Minnesota | $350,000 | $245K | 1.4× | $2,537/mo |
| 24 | Florida | $410,000 | $215K | 1.9× | $2,937/mo |
| 25 | Georgia | $330,000 | $215K | 1.5× | $2,403/mo |
| 26 | Alaska | $380,000 | $195K | 1.9× | $2,737/mo |
| 27 | North Carolina | $330,000 | $195K | 1.7× | $2,403/mo |
| 28 | South Carolina | $300,000 | $195K | 1.5× | $2,203/mo |
| 29 | New Mexico | $300,000 | $175K | 1.7× | $2,203/mo |
| 30 | Wisconsin | $300,000 | $175K | 1.7× | $2,203/mo |
| 31 | Illinois | $270,000 | $170K | 1.6× | $2,002/mo |
| 32 | Nebraska | $290,000 | $170K | 1.7× | $2,136/mo |
| 33 | Texas | $340,000 | $170K | 2.0× | $2,470/mo |
| 34 | Wyoming | $350,000 | $170K | 2.1× | $2,537/mo |
| 35 | Tennessee | $320,000 | $155K | 2.1× | $2,336/mo |
| 36 | Pennsylvania | $270,000 | $150K | 1.8× | $2,002/mo |
| 37 | Michigan | $250,000 | $145K | 1.7× | $1,869/mo |
| 38 | South Dakota | $300,000 | $145K | 2.1× | $2,203/mo |
| 39 | Missouri | $250,000 | $135K | 1.9× | $1,869/mo |
| 40 | North Dakota | $290,000 | $135K | 2.1× | $2,136/mo |
| 41 | Alabama | $230,000 | $130K | 1.8× | $1,735/mo |
| 42 | Indiana | $250,000 | $130K | 1.9× | $1,869/mo |
| 43 | Kansas | $230,000 | $130K | 1.8× | $1,735/mo |
| 44 | Iowa | $225,000 | $125K | 1.8× | $1,702/mo |
| 45 | Ohio | $240,000 | $125K | 1.9× | $1,802/mo |
| 46 | Arkansas | $210,000 | $115K | 1.8× | $1,602/mo |
| 47 | Kentucky | $210,000 | $115K | 1.8× | $1,602/mo |
| 48 | Oklahoma | $210,000 | $115K | 1.8× | $1,602/mo |
| 49 | Louisiana | $200,000 | $105K | 1.9× | $1,535/mo |
| 50 | Mississippi | $180,000 | $105K | 1.7× | $1,402/mo |
| 51 | West Virginia | $170,000 | $95K | 1.8× | $1,335/mo |
Run your own numbers — every assumption adjustable →
How to read the spread
The gap between West Virginia ($95K) and Hawaii ($345K) is about 3.6× — wider than the gap in home prices alone, because taxes and carrying costs compound the difference. Note the "home ÷ salary" column: under a standard that protects your retirement date, the sustainable multiple runs from 1.4× in Delaware to 2.5× in Hawaii — and only a handful of low-tax states tolerate even 3×. The folk rule that you can afford three and a half to four times your salary appears nowhere: carrying costs, taxes, and sequence-of-returns risk eat that headroom long before the sticker price does.
State income tax quietly reorders the middle of the table. The cleanest example: Oregon's typical home costs less than Colorado's or New Jersey's, yet it demands a higher salary — the steepest income tax in the study working against the saver every year. It's the only state whose sustainable multiple falls below 2×. The no-income-tax states run the same effect in reverse, punching consistently above their price level.
Common questions
What does “afford” mean here?
Something much stricter than a lender's approval: a purchase is "comfortable" when at least 85% of 1,000 simulated 30-year futures — including the ones with market crashes and layoffs — still reach financial independence by age 60, and fewer than 5% end in a forced sale. A bank will happily lend you more than these numbers; this study asks what you can carry without giving up retiring on time.
Why do these salaries look higher than other affordability tables?
Most tables invert the 28% payment rule and stop. This one simulates taxes (federal, FICA, and each state's actual 2025 income tax), maintenance, insurance, property tax, market risk, and job loss correlated with downturns — and then requires the plan to survive them. The price of that honesty is bigger numbers; the reward is that they mean something.
Where does the national median household income (~$83K) get you?
0 of the 51 jurisdictions studied have a typical home that grades comfortable at or below the national median household income: . Everywhere else, the median home requires an above-median income to buy without touching your retirement timeline.
Are these numbers a verdict on my household?
No — they're one illustrative household (dual-income-scale, 20% down, savings sized to fund closing, retirement target 60) moved from state to state so the comparison is apples-to-apples. Your savings, spending, and timeline move your number substantially in both directions — the planner recomputes it for your actual situation in about a second, in your browser.
Go deeper
- How much house each salary affords — the same model, inverted: start from your income.
- What a $200K salary buys — the study's median required income, in detail.
- Every state's affordability page — the tax drag behind these rankings, state by state.
- Why the 28% rule misleads — why this table disagrees with the one your bank uses.