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Buying a home has gotten a lot more difficult since the pandemic.
2025-04-02
With home prices surging around the country since 2020, the average household income needed to purchase a home at the median national price has risen by 49.5%, according to a new report from Bankrate.
About two-thirds of states have seen a surge in required income more than 50%. Utah comes in on top with an 89% increase in the last five years, the report said.
But on an absolute basis, some required household incomes to buy the average home are still fairly reasonable, well below the US average of $116,986 — which buys a $418,489 home.
Still, given the nationwide rise in the required income to buy a home, the report listed a few tips for breaking into the market, like improving your credit score to secure a lower mortgage rate; finding out about down-payment assistance programs; looking at cheaper options like condos; and simply waiting until you're in a better financial position.
Below are the 10 states with the lowest household incomes needed to buy the state's median-priced home, ranked in descending order, according to the Bankrate study. The increase in income required since 2020 is also included, as is the median home price and its monthly mortgage payment.
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William Edwards is a senior investing reporter at Business Insider primarily covering the US stock market and the broader economy.He's interviewed some of the most influential voices in the market, including Joseph Stiglitz, Jeremy Grantham, Rick Rieder, Rob Arnott, Savita Subramanian, Nouriel Roubini, Ken Rogoff, Mike Wilson, Claudia Sahm, Albert Edwards,Andrew Ross Sorkin,Ben Snider, and more.William launched BI's annual Oracles of Wall Street list (2023, 2024,2025), highlighting top calls from strategists, economists, and analysts. He also writes BI's Where to Invest $10,000 column, and contributes to the First Trade newsletter.Prior to Business Insider, William covered the US economy for Bloomberg News in Washington, DC and contributed to TV tech coverage for CNBC in San Francisco. He has also spent time studying or reporting in France, Germany, and Tunisia.He is based in New York.
