Salary needed to Afford a House in 10 Different Popular Cities: Columbus, Tampa, Nashville, Dallas, Los Angeles

Reventure App recently added a new data point under Home Prices and Affordability called Salary to Afford a House. This data points calculates how much money a household needs to earn in a year in order to afford buying a house at current home prices and mortgage rates. This data point is especially useful in understanding the locations where you can afford to buy a house in the 2024 housing market.

For the purposes of this post, I thought it would be interesting to select a handful of popular cities and break them out based on how much money you need to make in order to afford to buy a house. These cities are ranked 10 to 1 from least to most affordable. You can see a preview of the Salary to Afford a house broken down by state below on a map from Reventure App:

It’s worth noting: the US median household income is currently around $75,000. Only two the metros would be “affordable” for this median US homebuyer, reflecting just how expensive the housing market has become in recent years.

10. Detroit, MI – $72,244 salary to afford a house

Detroit is one of the most affordable large metros in America, with a typical home value of only $256,071. While this has gone up in recent years, Detroit is still a bargain compared to most similarly-sized metros. At current home prices and mortgage rates, a typical family in Detroit would need to spend $1,806/month on their buyer payment entering late 2024, equating to $21,672 per year. The downside to buying in Detroit is stagnant population growth, with the metro failing to grow its population from 2017-2022.

9. Indianapolis, IN – $74,841 salary to afford a house

Indianapolis is only slightly more expensive than Detroit, however it has a much better profile as a housing market to invest in. Not only are prices here affordable, but Indianapolis is actually a growing metro, registering positive inbound migration every year from 1991-2024. This strong population growth, especially for a Midwest area, allowed Indianapolis to achieve stronger 5-year appreciation rates than most other nearby cities at 55% price growth from 2019-2024.

8. Columbus, OH – $89,031 salary to afford a house

Our last Midwest city on this list represents an area that used to be very affordable, and is now more like a barely affordable city. Columbus, OH homebuyers need to shell out about $2,225/month in their mortgage, tax, and insurance payment when buying in today’s market. While that’s much lower than coastal areas, it’s much higher than Columbus used to be, when the typical monthly payment was only $1,000/month before the pandemic.

7. Tampa, FL – $99,868 salary to afford a house

Our first Florida entrant on this list is Tampa-St. Pete, where housing costs have absolutely skyrocketed over the last four years. Prior to the pandemic, a family only needed to earn $43,000 in order to afford a house. Now they need to make nearly six-figures. This of course was driven by a huge surge in people moving to Florida during the pandemic, which pushed up prices (to go along with higher mortgage rates. Interestingly – you can see the salary needed to afford a house in Tampa is now more than $25,000 higher than the area’s Median Income, indicating huge affordability issues.

6. Dallas, TX – $110,075 salary to afford a house

Dallas is a market that used to be very affordable. But no longer. Currently homebuyers in Dallas need to shell out $2,751/month in mortgage, taxes, and insurance when they buy in 2024, which annualizes to $33,000 per year. Dividing that annual figure by 30% yields $111,000 in gross income needed to buy a house, which is more than double the long-term norm. One has to wonder how long Dallas can continue sustaining this lack of affordability given the big surge in inventory that is occurring across the metro.

5. Nashville, TN – $113,150 salary to afford a house

Like Dallas, Nashville, TN is a market that has become sneakily expensive over the last several years. The typical value of a home across the metro is now clocking in at $445,517, which is now 27% above the US average. Combine those higher prices with 7% mortgage rates and you have a situating developing where many locals in Nashville are priced out, given the area’s local median household income of $85,000. Nashville is another market where home prices could be on the decline soon, given a big spike in inventory combined with increased price cuts.

4. Miami, FL – $130,880 salary to afford a house

But we’re going to step it up a notch in terms of cost with our #4 city – Miami. The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Palm Beach metro is now very expensive, with local buyers needed $130,880 in order to afford a house or condo. This figure is also likely on the lower end of the range needed given that listings in Miami tend to keep overpriced when they first hit the market. The result is a huge housing affordability crisis in Miami, where the levels of home price overvaluation are now matching what was seen back in 2006-07.

3. Salt Lake City, UT – $139,283 salary to afford a house

Salt Lake City, along with many other Mountain-area housing markets, have become more expensive than California was was 3-4 years ago (think about that for a second). In Los Angeles in 2018, you needed to make $125,000 to afford the typical house. Today in Salt Lake City you need to make $139,000. The cruel irony is that many people left California for Utah in search of affordability. But now – that affordability is no longer there. Which could be one reason why Salt Lake City is now losing people due to outbound migration.

2. Boston, MA – $192,371 salary to afford a house

Now we’re going to step up the cost factor another level. In Boston, MA, one of America’s most expensive markets, you need to make nearly $200,000 in order to have a shot at buying a house in today’s market. How do we get to that figure? Well, the typical value of a home in the Boston metro is an astronomical $705,000, which, combined with 7% mortgage rates, yields a monthly payment of over $4,800/month or $58,000/year. Interestingly, despite Boston’s sky-high prices, values are only 18% overvalued compared to their long-term norms.

1. Los Angeles, CA – $249,231 salary to afford a house

But of course – we have to finish this list with a California metro. In Los Angeles, the housing affordability has become so bad that homebuyers need to earn nearly $250,000 in order to afford a house in 2024. Back before the pandemic it was still expensive, but only a bit over $100,000. One has to wonder how long this housing situation in Los Angeles can last, given that the last time it became this unaffordable prices dropped 37%.

Head to www.reventure.app to access the Salary to Afford a House data point referenced in this post. It’s available under a premium plan at a cost of $39/month, to go along with 40 other premium data points tracking the housing market in your area. 

-Nick