How much more money you need to make to afford a home in every US state

Incomes have increased in nearly every state, but buying a home hasn't gotten any easier.

The national median income is still $31,136 short of affording the median-priced home.

Realtor.com data shows that the additional income needed to buy a home ranges from $2,287 to $98,469.

Nearly every state in the US experienced a bump in household income last year, yet it's still not enough to afford the typical home .

States like Rhode Island and Virginia saw fairly large increases in income from 2024 to 2025 — 9.02% and 7.85%, respectively — but an additional five figures is needed to afford a median-priced home in each state, according to data from the US Census and Realtor.com.

Realtor.com senior economist Hannah Jones said that even though households are bringing in more money, an increase in mortgage rates since last year isn't helping.

"Mortgage rates are more than one percentage point higher than a year ago, which cuts into buyer budgets and offsets the affordability gains from softening home prices and rising incomes," Jones said. "Nationally, the median household income is not enough to afford the median-priced home in any state."

The national median household income was $84,780 in 2025 — a roughly 3.8% increase from the previous year. However, with the national median listing price at $419,250 in September 2026, that's $31,136 short of the recommended income to buy, assuming a mortgage rate of 7.32% and a 10% down payment, according to Realtor.

Realtor calculated the additional amount needed above the median income to afford the typical home in each state, and found that some require a couple thousand dollars, while others require nearly six figures.

See how much more money you need to afford an average home in each state. States in ascending order of the additional household income needed to afford the median-priced home.

Additional household income needed to afford the median-priced home: $2,287

Additional household income needed to afford the median-priced home: $3,168

Additional household income needed to afford the median-priced home: $3,718

Additional household income needed to afford the median-priced home: $3,961