The average household would need to save for 36 years to afford a typical home in LA. Here’s how 50 US markets compare.
Many potential homeowners struggle to make down payments.
John M Lund Photography Inc/Getty Images
A median-income household must make a $128,000 down payment to comfortably afford a typical US home.
It takes about 12 years to save that, rising to 36 years for a down payment in pricey Los Angeles.
We've used Zillow data to rank 50 major metro areas by the number of years of saving needed.
It would take 12 years for a median-income household to save up the nearly $128,000 down payment needed to comfortably afford a typical US home costing $360,000, Zillow estimates in an analysis that lays bare the affordability crisis.
Zillow found the typical Pittsburgh home only costs about $217,000, meaning a median-income household could take out a mortgage with zero money down and still afford the monthly payments. That was true for the median home nationally five years ago, when home prices were half as high, and mortgage rates were around 4% versus 7% today.
In contrast, the real estate marketplace said that to afford a typical San Jose home costing $1.6 million, a median-income household would have to save for over 36 years to make the $1.3 million down payment needed.
Zillow assumed that households can save 10% of their monthly income and earn a 4% yearly return. It defined an affordable monthly payment as no more than 30% of the household's monthly income.
We've ranked 50 major metro areas by the number of years of saving required for a median-income household to afford the down payment on a typical home in each. They're ordered from the fewest years to the most, and assume no down payment assistance:
50. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Sean Pavone/Shutterstock
Typical home value: $217,285
Required down payment: $0 (0%)
Years of saving: 0
49. St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri.
Art Wager/Getty Images
Typical home value: $253,559
Required down payment: $10,773 (4.2%)
Years of saving: 1.2
48. Birmingham, Alabama
ESB Professional/Shutterstock
Typical home value: $255,033
Required down payment: $19,406 (7.6%)
Years of saving: 2.4
47. Detroit, Michigan
Atomazul/Shutterstock
Typical home value: $254,325
Required down payment: $24,132 (9.5%)
Years of saving: 2.8
46. Buffalo, New York
John Greim/LightRocket/Getty Images
Typical home value: $262,616
Required down payment: N/A
Years of saving: N/A
45. Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis, Indiana.
Sean Pavone/Shutterstock
Typical home value: $282,396
Required down payment: $27,570 (9.8%)
Years of saving: 3.1
44. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Typical home value: $235,815
Required down payment: $31,331 (13.3%)
Years of saving: 3.9
43. Cleveland, Ohio
Skyline of Cleveland, Ohio.
Getty Images
Typical home value: $230,536
Required down payment: $31,551 (13.7%)
Years of saving: 4
42. Memphis, Tennessee
f11photo/Shutterstock
Typical home value: $242,519
Required down payment: $30,852 (12.7%)
Years of saving: 4.1
41. Louisville, Kentucky
Shutterstock
Typical home value: $258,557
Required down payment: $46,869 (18.1%)
Years of saving: 5.7
40. New Orleans, Louisiana
GTS Productions/Shutterstock
Typical home value: $241,940
Required down payment: $46,138 (19.1%)
Years of saving: 6
39. Cincinnati, Ohio
Sean Pavone/Shutterstock
Typical home value: $287,721
Required down payment: $59,573 (20.7%)
Years of saving: 6.4
38. Houston, Texas
Nate Hovee/Shutterstock
Typical home value: $310,707
Required down payment: $76,825 (24.7%)
Years of saving: 7.9
37. Kansas City, Missouri
f11photo/Shutterstock
Typical home value: $307,032
Required down payment: $76,273 (24.8%)
Years of saving: 7.9
36. Baltimore, Maryland
Shutterstock
Typical home value: $387,914
Required down payment: $100,641 (25.9%)
Years of saving: 8.5
35. Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio.
Agnieszka Gaul/Shutterstock
Typical home value: $315,438
Required down payment: $84,215 (26.7%)
Years of saving: 8.5
34. Minneapolis, Minnesota
The Spoonbridge and Cherry statue at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.
Checubus/Shutterstock
Typical home value: $378,924
Required down payment: $102,199 (27.0%)
Years of saving: 8.6
33. Chicago, Illinois
Shutterstock
Typical home value: $321,897
Required down payment: $95,953 (29.8%)
Years of saving: 8.8
32. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Roman Babakin/Shutterstock
Typical home value: $362,204
Required down payment: $103,471 (28.6%)
Years of saving: 9.2
31. Richmond, Virginia
Sean Pavone/Shutterstock
Typical home value: $372,080
Required down payment: $105,228 (28.3%)
Years of saving: 9.6
30. San Antonio, Texas
f11photo / iStock
Typical home value: $289,511
Required down payment: $92,158 (31.8%)
Years of saving: 9.7
29. Atlanta, Georgia
Sean Pavone/Shutterstock
Typical home value: $387,471
Required down payment: $118,239 (30.5%)
Years of saving: 10.1
28. Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida broke it's record for latest day in the year to reach 97 degrees on Sept. 26, 2019. The latest in the year these temperatures had been seen was Sept. 21, 1990.
Getty Images
Typical home value: $361,796
Required down payment: $116,974 (32.3%)
Years of saving: 10.8
27. Virginia Beach, Virginia
Shutterstock
Typical home value: $351,095
Required down payment: $112,962 (32.2%)
Years of saving: 10.9
26. Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut.
f11photo/Shutterstock
Typical home value: $362,763
Required down payment: $129,585 (35.7%)
Years of saving: 11
25. Washington, DC
Sean Pavone/Shutterstock
Typical home value: $568,862
Required down payment: $188,087 (33.1%)
Years of saving: 11.2
24. Raleigh, North Carolina
Sharkshock/Shutterstock
Typical home value: $449,514
Required down payment: $152,410 (33.9%)
Years of saving: 11.8
23. Dallas, Texas
Shutterstock
Typical home value: $381,104
Required down payment: $152,586 (40.0%)
Years of saving: 12.9
22. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee.
Henryk Sadura/Shutterstock
Typical home value: $348,439
Required down payment: $137,086 (39.3%)
Years of saving: 13.4
21. Charlotte, North Carolina
digidreamgrafix/Shutterstock
Typical home value: $386,371
Required down payment: $149,041 (38.6%)
Years of saving: 13.7
20. Austin, Texas
Reuters
Typical home value: $466,628
Required down payment: $209,333 (44.9%)
Years of saving: 14.7
19. Phoenix, Arizona
Shutterstock
Typical home value: $461,352
Required down payment: $186,012 (40.3%)
Years of saving: 14.8
18. Tampa, Florida
Shutterstock/Sean Pavone
Typical home value: $382,802
Required down payment: $181,195 (47.3%)
Years of saving: 16.6
17. Nashville, Tennessee
Scott Heaney/Shutterstock
Typical home value: $446,180
Required down payment: $203,325 (45.6%)
Years of saving: 16.7
16. Orlando, Florida
Shutterstock
Typical home value: $398,881
Required down payment: $192,553 (48.3%)
Years of saving: 17
15. Salt Lake City, Utah
photo.ua/Shutterstock
Typical home value: $549,373
Required down payment: $251,131 (45.7%)
Years of saving: 17.1
14. Las Vegas, Nevada
The Las Vegas Strip at night.
randy andy/Shutterstock
Typical home value: $427,509
Required down payment: $198,306 (46.4%)
Years of saving: 17.6
13. Denver, Colorado
welcomia/Shutterstock
Typical home value: $595,649
Required down payment: $300,970 (50.5%)
Years of saving: 18.7
12. Providence, Rhode Island
Getty/DenisTangneyJr
Typical home value: $481,911
Required down payment: $257,453 (53.4%)
Years of saving: 19
11. Portland, Oregon
Josemaria Toscano/Shutterstock
Typical home value: $556,385
Required down payment: $296,427 (53.3%)
Years of saving: 19.8
10. Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California.
Getty Images.
Typical home value: $586,875
Required down payment: $337,769 (57.6%)
Years of saving: 21.7
9. Boston, Massachusetts
The Boston of today still has a gorgeous bay.
GagliardiImages/Shutterstock
Typical home value: $701,349
Required down payment: $432,875 (61.7%)
Years of saving: 23.1
8. Riverside, California
Shutterstock
Typical home value: $584,710
Required down payment: $358,926 (61.4%)
Years of saving: 23.6
7. Seattle, Washington
Checubus/Shutterstock
Typical home value: $753,414
Required down payment: $462,095 (61.3%)
Years of saving: 23.7
6. Miami, Florida
Simon Dannhauer/Shutterstock
Typical home value: $490,088
Required down payment: $316,270 (64.5%)
Years of saving: 24.1
5. New York, NY
Shutterstock
Typical home value: $657,279
Required down payment: $494,795 (75.3%)
Years of saving: 27.4
4. San Francisco, California
Alexander Spatari/Getty Images
Typical home value: $1.18 million
Required down payment: $887,656 (75.0%)
Years of saving: 31.5
3. San Diego, California
San Diego, California cityscape at the Gaslamp Quarter.
