New Report: This Is the Most Affordable City to Buy a Home in the U.S.
Hunting for housing has become something of a national hobby, and it’s not unusual to spend hours poring over listingsmany of them out of your price rangeonly to find yourself later Googling to find the most affordable city in the United States. Indeed, watching housing prices creep (and sometimes leap!) up over the past few years has left many people wondering if they’ll ever be able to purchase a home.
Rising prices during and after the COVID-19 pandemic were due to a few unique circumstances, but according to data from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, this has been a trend over the past couple of decades. Since 2000, both rent and home prices have increased faster than wages in most of the country, and housing supply hasn’t kept up with demand. In fact, 93% of the U.S. population lives in counties where median rents and house prices outpace income, making housing a persistent problem for everyone from singles to older adults wondering how much money they need to save to retire.
But there’s a shift happening, and we have good news.
A recent Zillow study shows that the share of affordable homes is growing, and the real estate marketplace identified a dozen markets where at least 50% of homes were considered affordable. In one city, nearly 3 in 4 listings are affordable, a boon for potential homebuyers. “Over the last few years, we have seen home prices increase in many markets. However, the good news is there are still affordable places to buy and more affordable housing coming to the market,” explains Jennifer Beeston, the senior vice president of mortgage lending at Guaranteed Rate Mortgage. “I am seeing more and more people who work remotely move to affordable areas of the United States. They want to enjoy their lives and not just work to pay for housing.”
Keep reading to learn more about Zillow’s study and discover the most affordable U.S. city for buying a home.
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How did Zillow determine the most affordable cities?
When coming up with its list of places to purchase an affordable home in the United States, Zillow defined the term affordable as mortgage paymentsincluding property taxes and insurancethat consume less than 30% of household income. “Zillow’s list of the most affordable markets looked at homes currently listed for sale in every major market and calculated the share that is affordable to a household making the median income,” says Amanda Pendleton, Zillow’s home trends expert.
Pendleton explains that while home prices matter, volatile mortgage rates have been a significant factor in driving housing affordability over the past couple of years. “Home shoppers received a boost in September when rates briefly fell to a two-year low, and we saw activity pick up, but that proved to be short lived,” she says. “Buyers should be prepared for similar ups and downs with mortgage rates and stay ready to move forward when conditions are right.”
What is the most affordable U.S. city for buying a home?
Pittsburgh is the most affordable U.S. city for homebuyers. Steel City has a lot to offer, from urban environments to walkable, tree-lined neighborhoods, and the city as a whole has gone through a bit of a renaissance in recent years. “While the city celebrates its steel-town history, it is now home to many new industries, arts and culture, green space and a booming restaurant and brewery scene,” Pendleton says. It’s home to three rivers, which offer opportunities for boating and fishing and add to the scenic backdrop of the city.
Pittsburgh is known for being a friendly and welcoming place and is a “certified welcoming” city, which means that the community welcomes and celebrates people from a variety of backgrounds. Pittsburgh has 90 unique neighborhoods, so on top of the fact that nearly 3 in 4 listings are affordable, there’s a good chance that almost anyone could buy a home they can afford in a neighborhood that meets their needs.
What else makes Pittsburgh a desirable place to live?
“Pittsburgh has everything,” says Jeremy Wells, a real estate agent and Pittsburgh native who lived out west for college and graduate school but moved back to Pittsburgh to raise his family in his hometown. “Pittsburgh is definitely a friendly city.” He adds that people tend to know their neighbors and look out for them.
Wells points out that Pittsburgh has many walkable areas, including downtown, Market Square, the strip district and more. “The North Shore area around the stadiums has been developed over the past few years,” he says. “We have awesome restaurants, a vibrant arts scene and winning sports teams. There’s always something to do.”
What other cities rounded out the top 10 most affordable places to buy a home?
With 72.1% of listings falling into the affordable category as of October 2024, Pittsburgh is the clear winner. Here are more cities rounding out the list of places to buy an affordable home.
| Metro area | Share of affordable listings (Oct. 2024) | Typical home value (Oct. 2024) |
| Pittsburgh | 72.1% | $211,000 |
| St. Louis | 64.2% | $252,497 |
| Buffalo, N.Y. | 63.7% | $263,642 |
| Detroit | 61.5% | $251,210 |
| Indianapolis | 59.5% | $277,856 |
| Cleveland | 57.2% | $230,488 |
| Baltimore | 56.2% | $388,545 |
| Birmingham, Ala. | 54.8% | $249,035 |
| Cincinnati | 53.5% | $284,570 |
| Philadelphia | 51.2% | $365,321 |
Which are the least affordable cities for buying a home?
The least affordable cities in the United States probably won’t come as a big suprise, and they continue to be clustered in the Northeast and along the Pacific coast.
| Metro area | Share of affordable listings (Oct. 2024) | Typical home value (Oct. 2024) |
| Los Angeles | 1.6% | $958,383 |
| San Diego | 4.2% | $944,682 |
| San Jose, Calif. | 7.2% | $1,604,516 |
| Sacramento, Calif. | 10.5% | $582,103 |
| New York | 11.4% | $681,486 |
| Boston | 11.6% | $701,008 |
| Riverside, Calif. | 12.6% | $587,895 |
| San Francisco | 14.0% | $1,147,975 |
| Providence, R.I. | 14.5% | $488,280 |
| Seattle | 17.1% | $743,386 |
How can you figure out what you can afford?
Affordability is somewhat relative and will evolve over time based on location, debt-to-income ratio, family size and other personal details that ebb and flow with life’s changes.
“Affordability is a personal metric,” Pendleton says, adding that when deciding what’s personally affordable, buyers need to think beyond just home prices and income to other factors, such as interest rates, how much they have available for a down payment, their credit score and their other monthly debt payments.
To get a clear picture of what you can truly afford, Pendleton recommends Zillow’s BuyAbility tool, which gives buyers a personalized, real-time estimate of the home price and monthly payment that fits with their budget. “Starting on the Home Loans tab on the Zillow app, buyers can add a few simple inputs unique to their financial situation, like income, credit score and monthly debts,” she explains. “Within seconds, a personalized, real-time estimate of the home price and monthly payment that fits within their budget pops up, along with insight into their likelihood of getting approved for a mortgage at this price point.
Beeston suggests putting together a budget and working out what you can afford monthly for housing. “It is important that you do this because when a lender looks at your numbers, we are not looking at the granular details,” she says. “It is the granular details, however, which will tell if a home will be affordable for you long term.”
Your loan officer will determine how much house you can afford based on your down payment and the loan programs available for your unique situation, but it’s up to you to determine the amount of mortgage you are comfortable with. “Try to stick to that number,” Bestow says. “Budgeting up front saves you from heartache down the line.”
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Sources:
- Jennifer Beeston, SVP of mortgage lending at Guaranteed Rate Mortgage; email interview, December 2024
- Amanda Pendleton, home trends expert at Zillow; email interview, December 2024
- Jeremy Wells, Pittsburgh real estate agent with EXP Realty and vice president of business development at Allegent Community Federal Credit Union; phone interview, December 2024
- U.S. Department of the Treasury: “Rent, House Prices, and Demographics”
- Zillow: “The Most Affordable Places To Buy A Home”
- Certified Welcoming: “City of Pittsburgh is now Certified Welcoming”
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