Housing affordability index
Housing affordability index: measures one thing: how much of a typical household's income disappears into the mortgage on a typical home, at the rate lenders are quoting right now.
30-year fixed rate used: 6.76% (observed 2026-09-10, FRED MORTGAGE30US).
National median
22.7%
of median household income
Least affordable
50.5%
Hawaii
Most affordable
16.2%
Iowa
Twelve months ago the same homes and the same incomes, priced at the 6.35% rate observed on 2025-09-11, took a median of 21.8% of income. The change since then is +0.9 percentage points, driven by the rate move alone.
| Rank | State | Share of income | Monthly P&I |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaii | 50.5% | $4,007 |
| 2 | California | 46.6% | $3,683 |
| 3 | District of Columbia | 43.2% | $3,662 |
| 4 | New York | 38.6% | $2,767 |
| 5 | Washington | 34.8% | $2,697 |
| 6 | Oregon | 33.5% | $2,187 |
| 7 | Colorado | 33.1% | $2,473 |
| 8 | Massachusetts | 32.7% | $2,690 |
| 9 | Nevada | 32.7% | $1,960 |
| 10 | Puerto Rico | 31.7% | $652 |
| 11 | Montana | 30% | $1,664 |
| 12 | Utah | 29.5% | $2,157 |
| 13 | Idaho | 29.4% | $1,730 |
| 14 | Florida | 27.8% | $1,581 |
| 15 | Arizona | 27.5% | $1,689 |
| 16 | Rhode Island | 26.6% | $1,797 |
| 17 | New Jersey | 26.5% | $2,172 |
| 18 | Wyoming | 25.6% | $1,570 |
| 19 | Virginia | 25% | $1,992 |
| 20 | Maryland | 24% | $2,034 |
| 21 | Delaware | 24% | $1,598 |
| 22 | Connecticut | 23.9% | $1,820 |
| 23 | Vermont | 23.2% | $1,461 |
| 24 | Tennessee | 23.1% | $1,267 |
| 25 | Maine | 22.8% | $1,322 |
| 26 | New Hampshire | 22.7% | $1,738 |
| 27 | North Carolina | 22.7% | $1,287 |
| 28 | New Mexico | 22.5% | $1,111 |
| 29 | Alaska | 22.4% | $1,619 |
| 30 | South Carolina | 21.8% | $1,168 |
| 31 | Georgia | 21.6% | $1,324 |
| 32 | Louisiana | 21% | $1,034 |
| 33 | Minnesota | 21% | $1,508 |
| 34 | Texas | 20.4% | $1,269 |
| 35 | Wisconsin | 19.9% | $1,217 |
| 36 | North Dakota | 19.7% | $1,211 |
| 37 | Pennsylvania | 19.5% | $1,228 |
| 38 | Illinois | 19.3% | $1,298 |
| 39 | South Dakota | 19.1% | $1,097 |
| 40 | Alabama | 18.7% | $946 |
| 41 | Michigan | 18.5% | $1,071 |
| 42 | Missouri | 18.4% | $1,037 |
| 43 | Kentucky | 18.4% | $941 |
| 44 | Arkansas | 18% | $861 |
| 45 | Nebraska | 17.6% | $1,068 |
| 46 | Mississippi | 17.5% | $788 |
| 47 | Ohio | 17.4% | $988 |
| 48 | Kansas | 17.2% | $1,034 |
| 49 | Oklahoma | 17.2% | $887 |
| 50 | Indiana | 17.1% | $980 |
| 51 | West Virginia | 16.8% | $784 |
| 52 | Iowa | 16.2% | $968 |
State detail
Methodology
For each state we take the median home value and the median household income from the Census American Community Survey 5-year estimates, apply a 20% deposit, and amortise the remaining balance over 30 years at the current 30-year fixed rate published by Freddie Mac and distributed through FRED (MORTGAGE30US).
The metric is the resulting monthly principal and interest, annualised, as a share of median household income. Taxes, insurance and HOA dues are deliberately excluded so the figure isolates the price-and-rate effect; every state is treated identically.
The twelve-month comparison holds home values and incomes fixed and re-prices them at the rate observed a year earlier, so the change you see is the rate effect on its own. Every figure recomputes the moment a new rate observation lands.
A state with no published home value or income is not shown rather than estimated.
Sources: FRED series MORTGAGE30US, Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey; U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2022.