Where can you afford to buy a home?
Set your annual income and see which counties stay inside the 30% housing rule. Data pulled from Census ACS median owner cost with mortgage and HUD CHAS cost-burden rollups. Counties shown have reported monthly owner cost.
Monthly budget at 30%: $1,875
Counties by monthly housing cost
Distribution of counties across the US, median owner cost with mortgage (Census ACS). Orange line marks your 30% budget.
Affordable counties by state
Top 15 states by number of counties inside your 30% budget.
Most affordable counties at this income
Lowest median owner cost, where monthly housing stays under 30% of your income.
- Kusilvak Census AreaAlaska$596/mo10% of income
- Gilmer CountyWest Virginia$735/mo12% of income
- Quitman CountyGeorgia$771/mo12% of income
- Oglala Lakota CountySouth Dakota$778/mo12% of income
- Calhoun CountyWest Virginia$780/mo12% of income
- Collingsworth CountyTexas$783/mo13% of income
- Menard CountyTexas$798/mo13% of income
- Lake and Peninsula BoroughAlaska$820/mo13% of income
- Menifee CountyKentucky$845/mo14% of income
- McDowell CountyWest Virginia$847/mo14% of income
- Foard CountyTexas$850/mo14% of income
- Wirt CountyWest Virginia$857/mo14% of income
- Quay CountyNew Mexico$858/mo14% of income
- Glasscock CountyTexas$859/mo14% of income
- Decatur CountyKansas$864/mo14% of income
- Summers CountyWest Virginia$865/mo14% of income
- Bailey CountyTexas$870/mo14% of income
- Lafayette CountyArkansas$872/mo14% of income
- Green CountyKentucky$875/mo14% of income
- Lewis CountyKentucky$876/mo14% of income
- Van Buren CountyTennessee$879/mo14% of income
- Lawrence CountyArkansas$884/mo14% of income
- Hickory CountyMissouri$890/mo14% of income
- Thomas CountyNebraska$893/mo14% of income
- Garden CountyNebraska$895/mo14% of income
- Lewis CountyMissouri$896/mo14% of income
- Ritchie CountyWest Virginia$897/mo14% of income
- Hudspeth CountyTexas$898/mo14% of income
- Claiborne ParishLouisiana$900/mo14% of income
- Prairie CountyMontana$903/mo14% of income
- Nevada CountyArkansas$913/mo15% of income
- Jefferson CountyMississippi$917/mo15% of income
- Edwards CountyKansas$922/mo15% of income
- Holmes CountyMississippi$923/mo15% of income
- Webster CountyWest Virginia$923/mo15% of income
- Wheeler CountyGeorgia$924/mo15% of income
- Pendleton CountyWest Virginia$924/mo15% of income
- Clay CountyArkansas$927/mo15% of income
- Wolfe CountyKentucky$928/mo15% of income
- Coke CountyTexas$929/mo15% of income
- Mississippi CountyMissouri$930/mo15% of income
- Sharp CountyArkansas$933/mo15% of income
- Chickasaw CountyMississippi$933/mo15% of income
- Brown CountyNebraska$934/mo15% of income
- Clinton CountyKentucky$937/mo15% of income
- Jackson CountyArkansas$938/mo15% of income
- Covington cityVirginia$940/mo15% of income
- Greene CountyAlabama$941/mo15% of income
- Pulaski CountyIllinois$941/mo15% of income
- Ripley CountyMissouri$943/mo15% of income
- Kemper CountyMississippi$943/mo15% of income
- Grant CountyWest Virginia$944/mo15% of income
- Chicot CountyArkansas$945/mo15% of income
- Clay CountyWest Virginia$945/mo15% of income
- Lee CountyKentucky$945/mo15% of income
- Todd CountySouth Dakota$946/mo15% of income
- Owsley CountyKentucky$947/mo15% of income
- Zavala CountyTexas$948/mo15% of income
- Buena Vista cityVirginia$948/mo15% of income
- Quitman CountyMississippi$948/mo15% of income
State-level affordability
Most affordable counties in each state.
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Frequently asked questions
What is the 30% rule for housing?
A widely cited rule of thumb is that total housing costs should stay under 30% of gross household income. HUD uses the 30% threshold to flag 'cost-burdened' households and 50% for 'severely cost-burdened.' The rule is a starting point, not a hard limit.
What costs are included in this comparison?
The slider compares your 30% monthly budget against each county's median monthly owner cost with a mortgage (Census ACS table B25088). That figure includes mortgage, real-estate taxes, insurance, utilities, and HOA fees. Your actual number depends on down payment, rate, and home price.
How many US households are cost burdened?
According to HUD CHAS 2017-2021, about 44.5% of US households pay 30% or more of income on housing, and 20.7% pay 50% or more.
Where does the county data come from?
Median owner cost, home value, rent, and income figures come from the Census ACS 5-year estimates. Fair Market Rents come from HUD. Cost-burden rollups come from the HUD CHAS dataset.
Data sources
- Census ACS 5-year: median owner cost with mortgage (B25088)
- HUD CHAS: cost-burden rollups
- HUD Income Limits: AMI thresholds