Los Angeles Has The Highest Home Price-To-Income Ratio In The US

Many Americans continue to find homeownership financially out of reach due to rising house prices and stagnant wages, among other contributing factors. But which U.S. cities are the least affordable?

One way to assess housing affordability is through the home price-to-income ratio, which measures the ratio of the median home price to the median household income.

This map, via Visual Capitalist’s Kayla Zhu, shows the home price-to-income ratio of 54 large cities (population over one million) in the U.S. using data from Construction Coverage’s analysis of Zillow and U.S. Census Bureau data.

Housing Affordability Worst in Coastal U.S. Cities

Below, we show the home price-to-income ratio, median home price, and median household income, for 54 large cities in the United States of America.

Rank	City	State	Price-to-income	Median home price	Median household income
1	Los Angeles	CA	12.5	$953,501	$76,135
2	San Jose	CA	10.5	$1,406,957	$133,835
3	Long Beach	CA	10.3	$825,502	$80,493
4	San Diego	CA	9.9	$994,023	$100,010
5	New York	NY	9.8	$732,594	$74,694
6	Miami	FL	9.2	$558,873	$60,989
7	San Francisco	CA	9	$1,236,502	$136,692
8	Oakland	CA	8.4	$780,188	$93,146
9	Boston	MA	8.3	$718,233	$86,331
10	Seattle	WA	7.3	$847,419	$115,409
11	Portland	OR	6.5	$524,870	$81,119
12	Denver	CO	6.4	$563,372	$88,213
13	Tucson	AZ	6.4	$327,123	$51,281
14	Washington	DC	6	$610,180	$101,027
15	Austin	TX	6	$533,719	$89,415
16	Nashville	TN	6	$432,592	$71,767
17	Aurora	CO	5.9	$483,228	$81,395
18	Sacramento	CA	5.9	$472,412	$80,254
19	Las Vegas	NV	5.9	$407,969	$68,905
20	Raleigh	NC	5.8	$434,407	$75,424
21	Fresno	CA	5.8	$370,798	$64,196
22	Colorado Springs	CO	5.7	$449,123	$78,568
23	Phoenix	AZ	5.6	$422,001	$75,969
24	Mesa	AZ	5.5	$434,369	$79,496
25	Charlotte	NC	5.3	$391,750	$74,401
26	Bakersfield	CA	5.3	$380,862	$72,017
27	Tampa	FL	5.3	$375,241	$71,089
28	Albuquerque	NM	5	$321,411	$64,757
29	Virginia Beach	VA	4.7	$391,244	$83,245
30	Atlanta	GA	4.7	$390,373	$83,251
31	Dallas	TX	4.7	$307,990	$65,400
32	New Orleans	LA	4.6	$241,369	$52,322
33	Arlington	TX	4.5	$315,222	$70,433
34	Houston	TX	4.4	$264,626	$60,426
35	San Antonio	TX	4.3	$253,762	$58,829
36	Minneapolis	MN	4.2	$312,872	$74,473
37	Fort Worth	TX	4.2	$302,359	$71,527
38	Jacksonville	FL	4.2	$294,450	$69,309
39	El Paso	TX	4.1	$216,673	$52,645
40	Chicago	IL	4	$284,818	$70,386
41	Omaha	NE	4	$272,286	$67,450
42	Columbus	OH	3.9	$238,286	$61,727
43	Milwaukee	WI	3.9	$191,149	$49,270
44	Philadelphia	PA	3.8	$215,593	$56,517
45	Louisville	KY	3.7	$233,464	$63,049
46	Kansas City	MO	3.7	$230,526	$62,175
47	Indianapolis	IN	3.6	$218,591	$61,501
48	Tulsa	OK	3.6	$194,784	$54,040
49	Baltimore	MD	3.2	$177,786	$55,198
50	Oklahoma City	OK	3.1	$198,826	$63,713
51	Wichita	KS	3.1	$186,528	$59,277
52	Memphis	TN	2.9	$144,347	$50,622
53	Cleveland	OH	2.7	$100,734	$37,351
54	Detroit	MI	1.9	$68,379	$36,453

Cities on the West Coast, particularly in California, face the most significant housing affordability challenges.

The top four cities with the highest ratios are all in California, while other major West Coast cities like San Francisco, Seattle, and Portland rank among the top 15.

The top five cities, including New York City, have a home price-to-income ratio more than double the national average of 4.7, making them highly unaffordable.

While median household income in cities like San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle are among the highest in the country, they also have some of the most expensive house prices in the country.

The Midwest and parts of the South have much lower ratios, including Detroit (1.9), Cleveland (2.1), and Memphis (3.1). Midwest cities consistently rank among the most affordable for housing and cost of living.

To learn more about the U.S. housing market, graphic that 10 fastest-growing housing markets in the U.S., based on their housing stock growth between 2013 and 2022.