Typical Income Needed to Buy a Home Continues to Climb

In January 2026, the typical U.S. household needed to earn an annual income of at least $93,061 to purchase a home, a nearly 80% increase since 2020, according to the ResiClub blog. Even so, that income level has declined slightly after peaking in 2025.

The annual household income needed to buy a home has jumped from $52,041 since January 2020

In 2020, the annual income needed to purchase a home was $52,041 but has has grown by 78.8% since, with the highest spike between January 2022 and January 2023 during the pandemic housing boom. During that time period, the annual income needed to buy a home grew from $63,111 to $87,092.

In more recent years, however, the average income needed to purchase a home has come down slightly. In January 2025, an annual income of $98,900 was needed to buy a house, but by January 2026, that figure fell by 5.9% to its current level of $93,061.

Despite some improvement, home prices are still much higher than they were in 2020

Homes might be slightly more affordable than they were last year, but home prices were still 44.7% higher in January 2026 than they were in January 2020. At the same time, mortgage rates have also jumped, from under 3% in 2020 to over 7% in a span of a few years, and currently remain over 6%.