HOUSING PRICE-TO-INCOME RATIOS - MSAs (sales, insurance, mortgage)

[MrDee12345]

Came across this website and I found it to be quite interesting:

https://www.bankingstrategist.com/ho...oincome-ratios

It compares MSAs based on their median income to housing costs ratio.

Basically, it doesn't just show the cost of housing of each MSA, but it factors in local salaries to determine how expensive an area is.

As a native New Englander, it shows me something that I've long suspected for a while now but didn't have the evidence to prove it: The Hartford MSA is the best deal in New England. It also shows that despite its shockingly high housing costs, Boston isn't too bad when you factor in salaries. It's still not great, but it's at the same level as Denver and Tampa so still not too bad.

All California MSAs, and much of the West, seem to be awful deals.

I've uploaded the charts, but you can also check it out for yourselves.

Edit: Okay, apparently I didn't upload the charts You can still check it out for yourself.

[ckhthankgod]

It looks similar to or like this source, which uses median family income in relation to median home sales price: https://www.nahb.org/news-and-econom...ortunity-index (Complete List By Affordability Rank puts all of the areas together and is generally(give or take a few areas) on point)

[luv4horses]

Fabulous data to have.

Even if you’re not changing addresses it’s cool to see how areas you have lived in or have friends/family in compare.

Only small trouble is that retirees don’t feel these differences in the same way. They might have a lower IRS income but have a paid off home so no mortgage interest payments. They can sometimes tolerate living in a red zone. On the other hand with no paid off home usually the green zone is needed.

[bellafinzi]

Top 50 best Income to Home Price Ratio US Metropolitan Areas over 500,000 rankings

1) Lansing, Michigan 1.8
2) Rochester, NY 2.0
3) Birmingham, Alabama 2.0
4) Charleston, South Carolina 2.0
5) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 2.1
6) Toledo, Ohio 2.1
7) Dayton, Ohio 2.1
8) Cleveland, Ohio 2.1
9) Fort Myers, FL 2.2
10) Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 2.2
11) Scranton, Pennsylvania 2.2
12) Akron, Ohio 2.2
13) Youngstown, Ohio 2.2
14) St. Louis, Missouri 2.3
15) Detroit, Michigan 2.4
16) Syracuse, NY 2.4
17) Boise, Idaho 2.4
18) Hartford, Connecticut 2.5
19) Indianapolis, Indiana 2.5
20) Milwaukee, Wisconsin 2.5
21) Oklahoma City 2.5
22) Albany, NY 2.6
23) Wichita, Kansas 2.6
24) Louisville, Kentucky 2.8
25) Baltimore, Maryland 2.8
26) Tulsa, Oklahoma 2.8
27) Chicago, Illinois 2.8 or 3.9?
28) Columbus, Ohio 2.9
29) Minneapolis, Minnesota 2.9
30) Madison, Wisconsin 2.9
31) Grand Rapids, MI 3.0
32) Kansas City 3.0
33) Allentown, Pennsylvania 3.1
34) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 3.1
35) Springfield, Massachusetts 3.1
36) Virginia Beach, Virginia 3.1
37) Memphis, Tennessee 3.1
38) Greenville, SC 3.2
39) Lancaster, Pennsylvania 3.2
40) Colorado Springs 3.3
41) Winston Salem, North Carolina 3.3
42) Richmond, Virginia 3.4
43) Houston, Texas 3.5
44) Pensacola, FL 3.6
45) Knoxville, Tennessee 3.6
46) Greensboro, North Carolina 3.6
47) Washington DC 3.6
48) Atlanta, Georgia 3.7
49) San Antonio, TX 3.7
50) Charlotte, North Carolina 3.8

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by bellafinzi

Top 50 best Income to Home Price Ratio US Metropolitan Areas over 500,000 rankings

1) Lansing, Michigan 1.8
2) Rochester, NY 2.0
3) Birmingham, Alabama 2.0
4) Charleston, South Carolina 2.0
5) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 2.1
6) Toledo, Ohio 2.1
7) Dayton, Ohio 2.1
8) Cleveland, Ohio 2.1
9) Fort Myers, FL 2.2
10) Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 2.2
11) Scranton, Pennsylvania 2.2
12) Akron, Ohio 2.2
13) Youngstown, Ohio 2.2
14) St. Louis, Missouri 2.3
15) Detroit, Michigan 2.4
16) Syracuse, NY 2.4
17) Boise, Idaho 2.4
18) Hartford, Connecticut 2.5
19) Indianapolis, Indiana 2.5
20) Milwaukee, Wisconsin 2.5
21) Oklahoma City 2.5
22) Albany, NY 2.6
23) Wichita, Kansas 2.6
24) Louisville, Kentucky 2.8
25) Baltimore, Maryland 2.8
26) Tulsa, Oklahoma 2.8
27) Chicago, Illinois 2.8 or 3.9?
28) Columbus, Ohio 2.9
29) Minneapolis, Minnesota 2.9
30) Madison, Wisconsin 2.9
31) Grand Rapids, MI 3.0
32) Kansas City 3.0
33) Allentown, Pennsylvania 3.1
34) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 3.1
35) Springfield, Massachusetts 3.1
36) Virginia Beach, Virginia 3.1
37) Memphis, Tennessee 3.1
38) Greenville, SC 3.2
39) Lancaster, Pennsylvania 3.2
40) Colorado Springs 3.3
41) Winston Salem, North Carolina 3.3
42) Richmond, Virginia 3.4
43) Houston, Texas 3.5
44) Pensacola, FL 3.6
45) Knoxville, Tennessee 3.6
46) Greensboro, North Carolina 3.6
47) Washington DC 3.6
48) Atlanta, Georgia 3.7
49) San Antonio, TX 3.7
50) Charlotte, North Carolina 3.8

Personally, I think the Lansing area is a steal, as you have a solid economy due to being the state capital, a large land grant state university, you have two legitimate Downtowns that are seeing more development within and in between them, you are only a little over an hour from Detroit, plenty of good school districts for families(including those with good diversity for those looking for that), it is in a good location within the state and has enough to do for its size.

[ion475]

Some observations:
1. Most of West Coast are indeed way overprice. Not surprisingly, it is the region where housing prices had been dropping the most recently.
2. NE is actually not that bad outside of NYC. DC Metro and "Greater Boston" are expensive, but the wage does compensate for it somewhat.
3. Houston is VERY affordable indeed. Especially compare to DFW and Austin.
4. Meanwhile, Florida is getting very expensive. And the number doesn't count the sky high home insurance.
5. Pittsburgh is cheap...

[ckhthankgod]

I don't understand how Buffalo is that much higher than the other Upstate NY metro areas. That is kind of odd. Same in regards to Cincinnati.

[masssachoicetts]

Originally Posted by ion475

Some observations:
1. Most of West Coast are indeed way overprice. Not surprisingly, it is the region where housing prices had been dropping the most recently.
2. NE is actually not that bad outside of NYC. DC Metro and "Greater Boston" are expensive, but the wage does compensate for it somewhat.
3. Houston is VERY affordable indeed. Especially compare to DFW and Austin.
4. Meanwhile, Florida is getting very expensive. And the number doesn't count the sky high home insurance.
5. Pittsburgh is cheap...

Yeah I am hoping NYC area jobs start paying Boston and DC wages since the COL is pretty much the same now.

[RocketSci]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

I don't understand how Buffalo is that much higher than the other Upstate NY metro areas. That is kind of odd. Same in regards to Cincinnati.

That makes no sense at all for Buffalo. It is not a high cost home market, and wages/earnings are comparable to Rochester and Syracuse. It's looks like they bundled it alongside coastal and NY Metro area cities like Newark, Stamford, and Nassau County. Did the authors somehow assume it was in the NYC Metro area??

[ClevelandBrown]

Originally Posted by RocketSci

That makes no sense at all for Buffalo. It is not a high cost home market, and wages/earnings are comparable to Rochester and Syracuse. It's looks like they bundled it alongside coastal and NY Metro area cities like Newark, Stamford, and Nassau County. Did the authors somehow assume it was in the NYC Metro area??

Looks like they updated their entire thing. I looked at it earlier and also did a double take at seeing Buffalo and Cincinnati so high and on the opposite end, Boise so low (it was down there at like 2.4).

Their graphs look completely different now, outside that they are still listing Las Vegas in with the Northeast.