It’s one thing to be able to afford buying a house. But it’s quite another thing to be able to pay the household bills each month so that you can keep a roof over your head. Aside from the mortgage, there are expenses like taxes and utilities that bump up the household budget.
Those costs weigh on the minds of many Americans. In a survey conducted earlier this year for the MacArthur Foundation, 68 percent of American adults said they think it’s more challenging today to obtain stable, affordable housing than it was in previous generations.
“Too many Americans today believe the dream of a decent, stable home, and the prospects for social mobility, are receding,” says Julia Stasch, president of the MacArthur Foundation. “Having a decent, stable, affordable home is about more than shelter: It is at the core of strong, vibrant and healthy families and communities.”
Julia Stasch is president of the MacArthur Foundation.
Photo: MacArthur Foundation
Out of Reach
We’ve all heard about the astronomical housing costs in cities like San Francisco and New York, but it appears that the dream of homeownership is slipping away in other places, too.
“While the vast majority of housing markets are still affordable by their own historic standards, home prices are floating out of reach for average wage earners in a growing number of U.S. housing markets,” says Daren Blomquist, senior vice president of ATTOM Data Solutions, which tracks housing trends. “The recent drop in interest rates has helped to soften the blow of high-flying price appreciation in some markets, but the affordability equation could change quickly if interest rates trend higher and home prices continue to rise faster than wages.”
Two of the 14 metro areas where your household dollar goes farther are in Ohio.
Stretching Your Dollar
Fortunately, that pain isn’t being felt too severely in some U.S. metro areas. In fact, we’ve come up with a list of the 14 Metro Areas Where Owning a Home Won’t Bust Your Budget.
To compile our list, we looked at data for the country’s 100 largest metro areas from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Results of the 2015 survey were released recently.
In the Census Bureau data, we zeroed in on two statistics:
- The percentage of mortgaged homes with at least 35 percent of household income being consumed by monthly home-related expenses. In this case, a lower percentage is better. Nationally, the figure for this category is 18.1 percent.
- The percentage of mortgaged homes with less than 20 percent of household income being consumed by monthly home-related expenses. In this case, a higher percentage is better. Nationally, the figure for this category is 51.3 percent.
Property taxes are among the monthly household expenses included in our ranking.
Then, we ranked the 100 largest metro areas by evenly weighting those two sets of data on housing expenses. The Census Bureau defines monthly household expenses as including:
- Mortgage
- Second mortgage
- Home equity loans
- Property taxes
- Homeowners insurance
- Condo fees
- Utilities such as electricity and water
Budget-Friendly Metros
So, which metro areas rose to the top of the list? Here’s our ranking of the 14 Metro Areas Where Owning a Home Won’t Bust Your Budget.
1. Des Moines, IA
Photo: Pixabay
Share of mortgaged homes with at least 35% of income eaten up by household expenses: 14.1%
Share of mortgaged homes with less than 20% of income eaten up by household expenses: 54.7%
2. Indianapolis, IN
Photo: Flickr/Chris Bowman
Share of mortgaged homes with at least 35% of income eaten up by household expenses: 15.3%
Share of mortgaged homes with less than 20% of income eaten up by household expenses: 55.2%
3. Grand Rapids, MI
Photo: Flickr/Michael J
Share of mortgaged homes with at least 35% of income eaten up by household expenses: 14.8%
Share of mortgaged homes with less than 20% of income eaten up by household expenses: 53.5%
4. Pittsburgh, PA
Photo: Flickr/Dean Sorenson
Share of mortgaged homes with at least 35% of income eaten up by household expenses: 16.1%
Share of mortgaged homes with less than 20% of income eaten up by household expenses: 54.0%
5. Buffalo, NY
Photo: Flickr/David Wilson
Share of mortgaged homes with at least 35% of income eaten up by household expenses: 16.4%
Share of mortgaged homes with less than 20% of income eaten up by household expenses: 53.6%
6. Akron, OH
Photo: Flickr/Michelle
Share of mortgaged homes with at least 35% of income eaten up by household expenses: 15.8%
Share of mortgaged homes with less than 20% of income eaten up by household expenses: 52.1%
7. Little Rock, AR
Photo: Flickr/Arkansas Highways
Share of mortgaged homes with at least 35% of income eaten up by household expenses: 16.6%
Share of mortgaged homes with less than 20% of income eaten up by household expenses: 52.8%
8. Kansas City, MO
Photo: Flickr/Dean Hochman
Share of mortgaged homes with at least 35% of income eaten up by household expenses: 15.2%
Share of mortgaged homes with less than 20% of income eaten up by household expenses: 50.6%
9. Baton Rouge, LA
Photo: Flickr/Antrell Williams
Share of mortgaged homes with at least 35% of income eaten up by household expenses: 17.3%
Share of mortgaged homes with less than 20% of income eaten up by household expenses: 53.6%
10. Greenville, SC
Photo: PuroClean
Share of mortgaged homes with at least 35% of income eaten up by household expenses: 17.1%
Share of mortgaged homes with less than 20% of income eaten up by household expenses: 52.9%
11. Toledo, OH
Photo: Flickr/Vicki Timman
Share of mortgaged homes with at least 35% of income eaten up by household expenses: 16.7%
Share of mortgaged homes with than 20% of income eaten up by household expenses: 51.8%
12. Raleigh, NC
Photo: Flickr/James Willamor
Share of mortgaged homes with at least 35% of income eaten up by household expenses: 15.5%
Share of mortgaged homes with less than 20% of income eaten up by household expenses: 49.2
13. Syracuse, NY
Photo: Flickr/David Wilson
Share of mortgaged homes with at least 35% of income eaten up by household expenses: 16.8%
Share of mortgaged homes with less than 20% of income eaten up by household expenses: 50.4%
14. Louisville, KY
Photo: LouisvilleKY.com
Share of mortgaged homes with at least 35% of income eaten up by household expenses: 17.8%
Share of mortgaged homes with less than 20% of income is eaten up by household expenses: 51.9%
Photo: WelcomeHomeDesMoines.com
