How Long Must Americans Work to Afford a Down Payment in the Top 50 Cities?

In California, the average homeowner must save for 9.58 years to afford a 20 percent down payment on the median-priced home. Yes, you read that right: just the down payment, not the house. SmartAsset analyzed the 50 largest cities to see how long it would take to save up for a down payment on a median home. They calculated the average time by taking the median salary in the city and assuming homebuyers would save 20 percent a year. If a decade of saving makes you queasy, the Midwest and South can shave off years of that estimate: the top 10 most affordable cities for a down payment average to just 2.81 years of saving. See how long it would take to save a down payment in your city. 

Owning a home is a dream for many Americans, but it can be difficult to attain. Monthly costs, which can include mortgage payments, taxes and insurance, total an average of $1,082 nationwide, according to the Census Bureau. And that’s after paying for the upfront costs of a home, including a down payment. Most people who don’t take out an FHA or conforming loan make a down payment of 20% the home value. In some cities, though, it can take much longer to afford a down payment than in others.

In this study, SmartAsset examined the number of years of work needed to afford a 20% down payment on the median home in each of the 50 largest cities in the U.S. To do this, we used median income figures and assumed that workers would save 20% of their income each year. For details on our data sources and how we put all the information together to create our final rankings, check out the Data and Methodology section below.

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