Home affordability has long been a well-known challenge across the country. Recent mortgage rate hikes have made it even more difficult for buyers to keep up with the already high housing prices. 

In 2024, over 103.5 million American households have been priced out of the housing market. To illustrate this, our map shows the percentage of households that can afford a new home, along with the median price of a new home in each state.

• Vermont is the least affordable state in the country, with only 8% of households able to easily afford a mortgage payment for a new median price home costing $712K.
• Virginia is the most affordable place in the entire country because some 34% of households can afford a home worth about $462K.
• A close look at our map reveals how varying income levels between states directly contribute to the housing affordability crisis. The same percentage of households can afford a home in California and D.C. (24%), but the median new home price is vastly different ($642K in California versus $758K in D.C.). While 24% of households may seem comparable, it represents a much larger number in D.C. due to its total number of households (342,299) compared to California (13,796,941).

First, we color-coded each state based on the median new home price according to an index from the National Association of Home Builders. Second, we overlaid a circle representing how many households live in each state. And finally, we shaded a slice of each circle to indicate what percentage of households can afford a home. The result of our analysis is a detailed snapshot of the U.S. housing crisis from coast to coast.

Top 10 States Where the Least (%) of Households Can Afford a New Home

In one broad stroke, our map uses a housing affordability index to illustrate the crisis across the country. There are only 3 states where 30% or more of the households can afford a home: Virginia (34%), Mississippi (32%) and Alaska (30%). In the vast majority of places, hardly anyone is in a position to pay the mortgage on a typical single-family home. This means that in places like Vermont, where only 8% of the population can afford to own a new home, families are getting financially stretched thin.

But our map also tells a deeper story about housing prices. Interestingly, housing prices alone are not the sole determiner of affordability. If a lot of families have high enough incomes to support themselves, then an expensive housing market in itself doesn’t make homeownership impossible. Take D.C. as an example, a state notorious for exorbitant housing prices, where a new home costs $758K and 24% of households can afford it. In contrast, Kentucky has a significantly lower median home price of $385K, but only 23% of households can afford it. However, because D.C. has a much smaller number of households, the actual number of households that can afford a home is significantly higher there, despite the home being nearly double the price.

If you are on the market for a new home, or shopping around for a better loan rate, check out our mortgage cost guide today.