Special Report

America's 25 Most Affordable Housing Markets

Michael B. Sauter, Steven Peters

Published: June 16, 2017 1:33 pm

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 10:59 am

Homeownership in the United States reached 63.6% this year, close to its lowest level since the Census Bureau began tracking the data over 50 years ago, and down from a peak of 69.2% in 2004.

Fears about buying a home stemming from the subprime mortgage crisis likely have driven down home buying. So, too, has the ongoing shift of the American population to cities. Today, approximately 80% of Americans live in urban areas, compared with the 63% who did in 1960. For many Americans, homeownership in cities is prohibitively expensive, and becomes more so every day as available real estate is bought up and the housing market recovers.

This is not to say renting is a cheaper alternative. In many cities, rent on a three-bedroom apartment costs over half average monthly wages.

Nevertheless, even as real estate prices continue to rise, there remain many housing markets throughout the United States where homeownership and renting is very affordable. In these places, rent costs less than one-third of average wages, monthly payments are as low as 12.5% of wages, and the typical home costs a fraction the average U.S. sale price. Based on data provided by ATTOM Data Solutions and 24/7 Wall St.’s calculations, we identified the 25 counties where housing is the most affordable relative to average wages.

Click here to see America’s most affordable housing markets.
Click here to see the detailed findings and methodology.

25. Clark County, Ohio
> Metro area: Springfield, OH
> Avg. % of wage spent on housing: 21.5%
> Avg. monthly wage: $3,187
> Median home ownership cost: $562 per month
> Median rent, 3 bedrooms: $938

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24. Clayton County, Georgia
> Metro area: Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA
> Avg. % of wage spent on housing: 21.4%
> Avg. monthly wage: $4,353
> Median home ownership cost: $469 per month
> Median rent, 3 bedrooms: $1,383

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23. Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
> Metro area: Pittsburgh, PA
> Avg. % of wage spent on housing: 21.3%
> Avg. monthly wage: $3,534
> Median home ownership cost: $653 per month
> Median rent, 3 bedrooms: $1,106

22. Luzerne County, Pennsylvania
> Metro area: Scranton–Wilkes-Barre–Hazleton, PA
> Avg. % of wage spent on housing: 21.3%
> Avg. monthly wage: $3,448
> Median home ownership cost: $571 per month
> Median rent, 3 bedrooms: $1,108

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21. Shelby County, Tennessee
> Metro area: Memphis, TN-MS-AR
> Avg. % of wage spent on housing: 21.2%
> Avg. monthly wage: $4,448
> Median home ownership cost: $736 per month
> Median rent, 3 bedrooms: $1,216

20. Montgomery County, Ohio
> Metro area: Dayton, OH
> Avg. % of wage spent on housing: 21.2%
> Avg. monthly wage: $3,792
> Median home ownership cost: $622 per month
> Median rent, 3 bedrooms: $1,090

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19. Ingham County, Michigan
> Metro area: Lansing-East Lansing, MI
> Avg. % of wage spent on housing: 21.0%
> Avg. monthly wage: $4,206
> Median home ownership cost: $669 per month
> Median rent, 3 bedrooms: $1,161

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18. Genesee County, Michigan
> Metro area: Flint, MI
> Avg. % of wage spent on housing: 21.0%
> Avg. monthly wage: $3,691
> Median home ownership cost: $669 per month
> Median rent, 3 bedrooms: $1,028

17. Broome County, New York
> Metro area: Binghamton, NY
> Avg. % of wage spent on housing: 20.9%
> Avg. monthly wage: $3,467
> Median home ownership cost: $531 per month
> Median rent, 3 bedrooms: $1,086

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16. Madison County, Alabama
> Metro area: Huntsville, AL
> Avg. % of wage spent on housing: 20.8%
> Avg. monthly wage: $4,746
> Median home ownership cost: $947 per month
> Median rent, 3 bedrooms: $1,088

15. Marathon County, Wisconsin
> Metro area: Wausau, WI
> Avg. % of wage spent on housing: 20.7%
> Avg. monthly wage: $3,652
> Median home ownership cost: $683 per month
> Median rent, 3 bedrooms: $964

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14. Jackson County, Michigan
> Metro area: Jackson, MI
> Avg. % of wage spent on housing: 20.5%
> Avg. monthly wage: $3,821
> Median home ownership cost: $669 per month
> Median rent, 3 bedrooms: $1,061

13. Richmond County, Georgia
> Metro area: Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC
> Avg. % of wage spent on housing: 20.4%
> Avg. monthly wage: $3,691
> Median home ownership cost: $525 per month
> Median rent, 3 bedrooms: $1,087

12. Lucas County, Ohio
> Metro area: Toledo, OH
> Avg. % of wage spent on housing: 20.2%
> Avg. monthly wage: $3,890
> Median home ownership cost: $606 per month
> Median rent, 3 bedrooms: $1,066

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11. Winnebago County, Illinois
> Metro area: Rockford, IL
> Avg. % of wage spent on housing: 20.2%
> Avg. monthly wage: $3,709
> Median home ownership cost: $582 per month
> Median rent, 3 bedrooms: $1,084

10. Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
> Metro area: Pittsburgh, PA
> Avg. % of wage spent on housing: 20.0%
> Avg. monthly wage: $4,792
> Median home ownership cost: $869 per month
> Median rent, 3 bedrooms: $1,106

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9. Oswego County, New York
> Metro area: Syracuse, NY
> Avg. % of wage spent on housing: 19.6%
> Avg. monthly wage: $3,639
> Median home ownership cost: $563 per month
> Median rent, 3 bedrooms: $1,132

8. Woodbury County, Iowa
> Metro area: Sioux City, IA-NE-SD
> Avg. % of wage spent on housing: 19.6%
> Avg. monthly wage: $3,730
> Median home ownership cost: $592 per month
> Median rent, 3 bedrooms: $1,000

7. Summit County, Ohio
> Metro area: Akron, OH
> Avg. % of wage spent on housing: 19.3%
> Avg. monthly wage: $3,992
> Median home ownership cost: $587 per month
> Median rent, 3 bedrooms: $1,093

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6. Saint Lawrence County, New York
> Metro area: Ogdensburg-Massena, NY
> Avg. % of wage spent on housing: 19.0%
> Avg. monthly wage: $3,553
> Median home ownership cost: $519 per month
> Median rent, 3 bedrooms: $1,105

5. Cuyahoga County, Ohio
> Metro area: Cleveland-Elyria, OH
> Avg. % of wage spent on housing: 18.7%
> Avg. monthly wage: $4,512
> Median home ownership cost: $649 per month
> Median rent, 3 bedrooms: $1,099

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4. Wayne County, Michigan
> Metro area: Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI
> Avg. % of wage spent on housing: 18.1%
> Avg. monthly wage: $4,953
> Median home ownership cost: $626 per month
> Median rent, 3 bedrooms: $1,296

3. Greene County, Ohio
> Metro area: Dayton, OH
> Avg. % of wage spent on housing: 17.7%
> Avg. monthly wage: $4,316
> Median home ownership cost: $636 per month
> Median rent, 3 bedrooms: $1,090

2. Saginaw County, Michigan
> Metro area: Saginaw, MI
> Avg. % of wage spent on housing: 17.4%
> Avg. monthly wage: $3,572
> Median home ownership cost: $442 per month
> Median rent, 3 bedrooms: $1,058

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1. Trumbull County, Ohio
> Metro area: Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA
> Avg. % of wage spent on housing: 16.8%
> Avg. monthly wage: $3,391
> Median home ownership cost: $425 per month
> Median rent, 3 bedrooms: $905

Detailed Findings & Methodology

The most affordable counties are mostly in markets with very low wages. Generally, low incomes tend to result in lower housing costs, as prices usually reflect residents’ ability to pay. But the fact that these are the most affordable markets in the country means prices are extremely low, even relative to low area incomes.

Extremely inexpensive housing, while certainly a benefit for residents, usually points to poor living conditions, unappealing property, weak economies, and a lack of well-paying jobs. The vast majority of these counties face a number of drawbacks that drive down prices. In almost all of these markets, poverty is extremely high, life expectancy is low, and joblessness is widespread.

Most of these counties are in metropolitan areas that have been hit hardest by America’s post-industrial decline. These counties contain cities such as Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Toledo and Scranton. These affordable housing markets are part of metro areas that have slowly bled jobs and residents over the years.

As the U.S. population grows steadily, most of these markets have either declining or stagnant populations. Compared with 1960, there are about 900,000 fewer people living in Wayne County, part of the Detroit metropolitan area, and one of the most affordable housing markets. As residents have fled these places, low demand has dropped prices down to just a fraction of the typical U.S. home price. The typical home sold in 2017 in Trumbull County, Ohio, part of the Youngstown metropolitan area, cost $63,000, about one-quarter of the median U.S. sales price.

To identify the most affordable housing markets, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed home and rental affordability for 379 U.S. counties with at least 100 home sales in the first quarter of 2017 based on an analysis by ATTOM Data Solutions of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development data. We calculated an average of the homeownership and rental affordability measures in each county, weighted by the percentages of owner- and renter-occupied housing units in the area.

Monthly homeownership costs, median fair market rent and wage data also came from ATTOM. Median homeownership cost is the monthly house payment for a median-priced home (based on a 3% down payment and including mortgage, property tax, homeowner’s insurance and private mortgage insurance).