Home Prices Have Grown by More Than 550% Since 1980

Since 1980, the median U.S. home price has grown 551%, while median household incomes have only grown by 373% during the same period, a recent report from Best Interest Financial and Clever Real Estate shows. Much of this growth occurred in the five years surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Median home prices climbed 31% from $321,500 in 2019 to $420,300 in 2024. This means that home prices outpaced Americans' incomes by nearly 1.5 times during these five years alone. Additionally, if the median household income had kept pace with home prices since 1980, it would have reached $115,225 in 2024, or $31,495 more than the current median household income.

The home-price-to-income ratio increased from 3.65 in 1980 to its 2022 peak of 5.83. That ratio has come down slightly since then, but it remains higher than the ideal home-price-to-income ratio of 2.6 or lower. In fact, the report shows that zero of the 50 largest cities in the U.S. currently meet that threshold.  

Even so, some of the 50 largest U.S. cities are close to meeting the ideal home-price-to-income ratio

Of the 50 most-populous metros, many of the most affordable are located in the Midwest. Pittsburgh, with a home-price-to-income ratio of 3.07, is considered the most affordable. Pittsburgh is followed by Cleveland, which has a home-price-to-income ratio of 3.27, and then St. Louis, which has a home-price-to-income ratio of 3.61. Detroit and Oklahoma City round out the top five spots with home-price-to-income ratios of 3.62 and 3.63, respectively.

Meanwhile, four of the five least affordable cities are concentrated in California

California is home to many of the least affordable metros. San Jose is deemed the least affordable, with a home-price-to-income ratio of 11.65, followed by Los Angeles at 9.75, San Francisco at 9.62, and San Diego at 9.11. In the fifth spot is Miami, with a home-price-to-income ratio of 7.88.