How much would you need to make in order to buy a house in select major cities... (2015, renting)

[ckhthankgod]

Here is an article about the salary you would need to make in order to buy a home in certain major cities: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...nl_draw&wpmm=1

[bluecarebear]

I love these articles that don't consider the quality of a neighborhood as a factor. A family house in good condition located in a safe neighborhood with a better school district will cost $200,000+ in Pittsburgh.

[cirrusly]

Originally Posted by bluecarebear

I love these articles that don't consider the quality of a neighborhood as a factor. A family house in good condition located in a safe neighborhood with a better school district will cost $200,000+ in Pittsburgh.

The $86,000 figure for NYC made me laugh! There's just no way....

[Soonhun]

I didn't expect Philadelphia was so "affordable," being cheaper than Baltimore and Dallas. Often times, people say older cities on the coast grow more slowly because they are so expensive. I wonder why Philadelphia is growing so slowly, then, while being affordable (at least in housing); it seemed like a great place to live when I visited, briefly, aside from the hoard of homeless people in downtown.

[gladhands]

This is one of those cases where city proper matters. Cheaper housing on the fringes of the MSA and really skew the numbers.

[FirebirdCamaro1220]

I don't know what it says for Phoenix, but if you don't have a household income of at least $80k here, you can forget a single family home, less than $60k, forget a condo or townhome

[mhays25]

In a more urban city, it's easier to spend nothing (or nearly nothing) on transportation. That sends any "affordability" metric out the window.

[lovecrowds]

Originally Posted by FirebirdCamaro1220

I don't know what it says for Phoenix, but if you don't have a household income of at least $80k here, you can forget a single family home, less than $60k, forget a condo or townhome

Metro Phoenix is a very good city for married couples with jobs that pay the median wage.

Part of the reason why households have such huge families in Metro Phoenix is because they have so much left over because of the extremely low cost, nice, new homes here.

I can't think of a better metropolitan area in the country for married couples earning the median wage.

The median wage in Metro Phoenix is $46,000 and a married couple earning that with the ultra-low Arizona taxes can live a very good lifestyle on that amount.

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ - May 2015 OES Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

For Instance, San Tan Valley close to job centers in Gilbert and Chandler has nice, big houses for less then $200,000 and the property taxes are extremely low in Arizona.

I was just in Salt Lake City and it is a very married and coupled city but far smaller families there because of the much higher housing costs.

[FirebirdCamaro1220]

Originally Posted by lovecrowds

Metro Phoenix is a very good city for married couples with jobs that pay the median wage.

Part of the reason why households have such huge families in Metro Phoenix is because they have so much left over because of the extremely low cost, nice, new homes here.

I can't think of a better metropolitan area in the country for married couples earning the median wage.

The median wage in Metro Phoenix is $46,000 and a married couple earning that with the ultra-low Arizona taxes can live a very good lifestyle on that amount.

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ - May 2015 OES Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

For Instance, San Tan Valley close to job centers in Gilbert and Chandler has nice, big houses for less then $200,000 and the property taxes are extremely low in Arizona.

I was just in Salt Lake City and it is a very married and coupled city but far smaller families there because of the much higher housing costs.

Median HOUSEHOLD is $46k, the single earner median is more like $27k, too many people look at household income, it can be VERY misleading

And a household only making $46k is going to be stuck renting. Me and my fiance make $61k combined ($52k for me, $9k for her) and we are still renting. We make just enough to maybe afford a condo, but we're too close to the margin for my comfort

[Soonhun]

Originally Posted by mhays25

In a more urban city, it's easier to spend nothing (or nearly nothing) on transportation. That sends any "affordability" metric out the window.

But this "metric" is only taking into account the average/median price of homes and nothing else, based on a 30% of income.