ELEVATED HOME PRICES AND STAGNANT WAGES MAKE HOME-OWNERSHIP UNAFFORDABLE ACROSS THE COUNTRY

In 77.9 Percent of Counties, Home Expenses are Unaffordable for Typical Residents; Median National Home Price Hits High of $369,000 in Second Quarter

IRVINE, Calif., June 26, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property data, and real estate analytics, today released its latest U.S. Home Affordability Report showing that in 99 percent of counties with sufficient data to analyze median-priced single-family homes and condos were less affordable in the second quarter of 2025 than historical averages. It marks the 14th consecutive quarter where purchasing and maintaining a median-priced home in the U.S. has required a higher percentage of the typical owner's wages than has historically been necessary.

ATTOM's analysis shows that major expenses for a median-priced home in the U.S. would have consumed 33.7 percent of the average American's annual income. That was up from 32 percent in the first quarter of the year, and well above the 28 percent share typically recommended by lenders.

The affordability report highlights the challenges facing current homeowners and prospective buyers as home prices continue to rise. After a brief dip from $355,000 in the fourth quarter of 2024 to $350,275 in the first quarter of 2025, the median home price in the U.S. increased to $369,000 in the second quarter of the year. Meanwhile, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate sat at 6.82 percent.

"The squeeze is really on for would-be buyers as we go into the summer, which is usually when the housing market is most active," said Rob Barber, CEO of ATTOM. "Prices just continue to rise and there's been no relief on mortgage rates. Meanwhile, typical wages are barely increasing from quarter-to-quarter."

Since the first quarter of 2020, the median cost to purchase a home in the U.S. has gone up 55.7 percent. The average wage in the U.S, meanwhile, has only risen by 26.6 percent. (The most recent wage data available from the U.S. Bureau for Labor Statistics is for the fourth quarter of 2024).

ATTOM determines affordability for average wage earners by calculating the amount of income needed to meet major monthly home ownership expenses—including mortgage payments, mortgage insurance, property taxes and homeowner's insurance—on a median-priced single-family home and condo, assuming a 20 percent down payment and a 28 percent maximum "front-end" debt-to-income ratio. That required income is measured against annualized average weekly wage data from the BLS (see full methodology below).

Compared to historical averages, owning a median-priced home in the second quarter of 2025 was less affordable in 99.3 percent (575) of 579 counties with sufficient data to analyze. That was up slightly from the previous quarter, when home ownership was less affordable in 96.9 percent of counties than had historically been the case.

In 77.9 percent (451) of the 579 counties, home expenses during the second quarter of the year exceeded 28 percent of the typical resident's wages, making home ownership unaffordable by standard guidelines. That included some of the nation's most populous counties, such as Los Angeles County, CA; Cook County, IL (Chicago); Maricopa County, AZ (Phoenix); San Diego County, CA; and Orange County, CA (outside Los Angeles).

The most populous counties where major home expenses accounted for less than 28 percent of the typical resident's wages were Harris County, TX (Houston); Wayne County, MI (Detroit); Philadelphia County, PA; Cuyahoga County, OH (Cleveland); and Allegheny County, PA (Pittsburgh).

View Q2 2025 U.S. Home Affordability Heat Map 

Median home prices up annually in two thirds of counties
The national median price for a single-family homes and condos rose by 5 percent from the first quarter of 2025 to a high of $369,000. That was also 3 percent higher than the same time last year.

Median home prices have risen year-over-year in 66 percent (382) of the 579 counties analyzed. The report includes counties with a population of at least 100,000 at least 50 single-family home and condo sales and with sufficient data in the second quarter of 2025.

Among the 48 counties in the report with populations over 1 million, the biggest year-over-year increases in median home prices were in Bronx County (New York City), NY (up 14 percent); Suffolk County (Long Island), NY (up 6 percent); Queens County (New York City), NY (up 6 percent); Philadelphia County, PA (up 6 percent); and Hennepin County (Minneapolis), MN (up 5 percent).

Of those largest counties, the biggest year-over-year decreases in median home prices were in Contra Costa County (outside San Francisco), CA (down 5 percent); Travis County (Austin), TX (down 4 percent); Alameda County (Oakland), CA (down 3 percent); New York County (Manhattan), NY (down 3 percent); and Hillsborough County (Tampa), FL (down 3 percent).

Home costs rose faster than wages in more than a third of counties
The cost of purchasing a median-priced home rose faster than average wages in 34.9 percent (202) of the 579 counties during the second quarter of 2025. That's a sliver of good news when compared to the first quarter of the year, when home price growth outstripped wages in 46.9 percent of counties analyzed.

The largest counties where home prices outpaced wage growth in the second quarter were Queens County (New York City), NY; Broward County (Fort Lauderdale), FL; Philadelphia County, PA; Bronx County (New York City), NY; and Oakland County (outside Detroit), MI.

The largest counties where wages grew faster than home prices were Los Angeles County, CA; Cook County (Chicago), IL; Harris County (Houston), TX; Maricopa County (Phoenix), AZ; and San Diego County, CA.

Ownership expenses as percentage of wages up quarterly in most of U.S.
The portion of average wages required to cover major expenses on median-priced single-family homes and condos has increased quarter-over-quarter in 83.1 percent (481) of the 579 counties. However, that ratio was up annually in only 36.1 percent (209) of the counties.

Nationwide, the typical monthly cost of mortgage payments, homeowners insurance, mortgage insurance, and property taxes was $2,125 in the second quarter of 2025. That was up 5 percent from the first quarter of the year and up 1 percent from the same time last year.

In the second quarter of 2025, those homeownership expenses accounted for 33.7 percent of the average American's wages. That was up from 32 percent in the previous quarter but down slightly from 34.1 percent at the same time last year.

In 35.4 percent (205) of the 579 counties, home expenses would have consumed more than 43 percent of the typical resident's wages, a benchmark considered seriously unaffordable.

California leads with most unaffordable counties
California is the national leader when it comes to home unaffordability. Fifteen of the top 25 counties where home expenses consumed the greatest share of residents' wages were in the Golden State.

The counties where home purchase expenses accounted for the largest share of income were Marin County, CA (119.7 percent of typical wages); Santa Cruz County, CA (116.1 percent of typical wages); Maui County, HI (111.5 percent of typical wages); Kings County, NY (109 percent of typical wages); and San Luis Obispo County, CA (99.3 percent of typical wages).

Besides Kings County, NY, the counties with populations over 1 million where home expenses ate up the greatest share of wages were Orange County, CA (97.5 percent); Queens County, NY (80.7 percent); Alameda County, CA (78.6 percent); and San Diego County, CA (72.7 percent).

The counties where home expenses required the smallest share of typical wages were Saint Lawrence County, NY (9.1 percent); Macon County, IL (13.2 percent); Cambria County, PA (13.3 percent); Peoria County, IL (14.5 percent); and Rock Island County, IL (15.6 percent).

Among counties with populations over 1 million, home expenses consumed the smallest share of wages in Wayne County, MI (16.1 percent); Cuyahoga County, OH (20.6 percent); Philadelphia County, PA (21.2 percent); Allegheny County, PA (21.9 percent); and Harris County, TX (24.3 percent).

Majority of counties must make more than the national average to afford homes
In order to keep homeownership expenses under the 28 percent of the recommended wages guideline, purchasing the national median-priced home in the second quarter of 2025 would have required an annual income of at least $91,066.

California again stands out with 16 of the 25 counties where affordable home ownership requires the highest annual income. The counties with the highest wage requirements to maintain affordability were San Mateo County, CA($408,819); Santa Clara County, CA($402,439); Marin County, CA($399,647); New York County, NY($368,641); and San Francisco County, CA($359,699).

The counties with the lowest annual income requirements to affordably buy and maintain a median-priced home were Saint Lawrence County, NY($20,255); Cambria County, PA($23,675); Robeson County, NC($30,028); Schuylkill County, PA($30,374); and Fayette County, PA($30,728).

Homes less affordable than historical averages in almost every county
In 99.3 percent (575) of the 579 counties analyzed, homeownership was less affordable in the second quarter of 2025 than historical averages for those regions.

Among counties with populations over 1 million, those with the lowest affordability index scores were Fulton County, GA (affordability index of 61); Oakland County, MI (affordability index of 64); Wayne County, MI (affordability index of 64); Broward County, FL (affordability index of 65); and Mecklenburg County, NC (affordability index of 65). An index score less than 100 means homeownership is less affordable than the region's historical average.

Report Methodology
The ATTOM U.S. Home Affordability Index analyzed median home prices derived from publicly recorded sales deed data collected by ATTOM and average wage data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 579 U.S. counties with a combined population of 255 million during the second quarter of 2025. The affordability index is based on the percentage of average wages needed to pay for major expenses on a median-priced home with a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and a 20 percent down payment. Those expenses include property taxes, home insurance, mortgage payments and mortgage insurance. Average 30-year fixed interest rates from the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey were used to calculate monthly house payments.

The report determined affordability for average wage earners by calculating the amount of income needed for major home-ownership expenses on median-priced homes, assuming a loan of 80 percent of the purchase price and a 28 percent maximum "front-end" debt-to-income ratio. For example, affording the nationwide median home price of $369,000 in the second quarter of 2025 requires an annual wage of $91,066. That is based on a $73,800 down payment, a $295,200 loan and monthly expenses not exceeding the 28 percent barrier — meaning wage earners would not be spending more than 28 percent of their pay on mortgage payments, property taxes and insurance. That required income is more than the $75,634 average wage nationwide, based on the most recent average weekly wage data available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, making a median-priced home nationwide unaffordable for average workers.

About ATTOM 
ATTOM powers innovation across industries with premium property data and analytics covering 158 million U.S. properties—99% of the population. Our multi-sourced real estate data includes property tax, deed, mortgage, foreclosure, environmental risk, natural hazard, neighborhood and geospatial boundary information, all validated through a rigorous 20-step process and linked by a unique ATTOM ID.

From flexible delivery solutions—such as Property Data APIs, Bulk File Licenses, ATTOM Cloud, Real Estate Market Trends—to AI-Ready datasets, ATTOM fuels smarter decision-making across industries including real estate, mortgage, insurance, government, and more.

Media Contact:
Megan Hunt
megan.hunt@attomdata.com 

Data and Report Licensing:
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