Advisor Insight

Here’s what you need to earn to buy a home in these big cities

Key Points
  • Owning a home in San Francisco, San Jose or New York can really break the bank, with total costs at more than double the U.S. national median.
  • But most large cities, such as Indianapolis, are far more affordable, with median incomes more than enough to cover costs associated with typical homes.
In Indianapolis, the nation's 15th largest city, homeowners need only earn the median area income in order to afford the median priced home.
John J. Miller Photogrpahy | Getty Images

Record-low inventory is causing home prices to rise across the U.S., so higher salaries are now required to afford monthly housing payments, according to SmartAsset.

The financial technology firm crunched the numbers using its mortgage calculator, discovering that the inhabitants of three of the country's largest cities have to rake in more than $110,000 a year to pay for a home to call their own (when you factor in the mortgage, property taxes and homeowners insurance). That whopper of a tab is near double the average of $57,617 needed by home buyers nationwide.

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San Franciscans have to bring home $164,666 in bacon to buy their own digs, while just a few miles south, San Jose residents catch a relative $33,000 break by only need a measly $131,503. In the Big Apple, New Yorkers can expect their home costs to take a $111,662 bite.

Owning a home in many of the other 12 biggest U.S. cities studied, however, is far more affordable, said SmartAsset. The firm found that, in 10 of the total 15 cities analyzed, median household income suffices to afford the median home. Otherwise debt-free Indianapolis residents, for instance, only need to earn $21,955 to afford monthly home payments after making a 20 percent down payment. See the chart below for all of SmartAsset's findings.

(Source: SmartAsset)