Most affordable counties in the US
Ranked by owner cost as a share of household income (Census ACS). Lower is better.
Affordability does not begin at the listing price. It begins with what a typical homeowner in a place actually spends each month relative to what a typical household earns there. The Census ACS publishes both numbers for every county. Their ratio is the cleanest comparable measure of housing affordability we have at the local level. This ranking sorts counties by that ratio. The counties at the top are not necessarily cheap in absolute dollars; they are places where the median homeowner can carry the median home on a typical local income with the most cushion left over. We restrict the ranking to counties of at least 25,000 people so micro-counties with unusual demographics do not dominate the list. Every entry links to a full county page with the underlying property tax, owner cost, and home value data.
Top 20: lowest owner cost as a share of income
Bars show owner cost as a percentage of household income. Shorter is more affordable.
Top 50 sortable table
Click any column to sort. Click a county name for the full cost-of-ownership profile.
| # | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hancock County, WV | 12.1% | $57,515 | $111,700 | $752 |
| 2 | Mineral County, WV | 12.3% | $64,728 | $162,400 | $815 |
| 3 | Wabash County, IN | 13.2% | $66,194 | $135,800 | $719 |
| 4 | Miami County, IN | 13.2% | $59,551 | $112,800 | $628 |
| 5 | Taylor County, KY | 13.3% | $63,211 | $156,800 | $1,112 |
| 6 | Van Wert County, OH | 13.5% | $64,841 | $129,300 | $1,293 |
| 7 | Auglaize County, OH | 13.5% | $75,231 | $168,200 | $1,691 |
| 8 | Lafayette County, MO | 13.8% | $78,397 | $187,000 | $1,464 |
| 9 | Putnam County, OH | 13.9% | $79,453 | $176,200 | $1,752 |
| 10 | Mercer County, OH | 14.0% | $73,278 | $192,800 | $2,055 |
| 11 | Howard County, IN | 14.0% | $62,014 | $143,100 | $1,025 |
| 12 | Kosciusko County, IN | 14.0% | $70,945 | $183,300 | $1,122 |
| 13 | Dickinson County, MI | 14.2% | $59,651 | $122,600 | $1,809 |
| 14 | Defiance County, OH | 14.3% | $69,302 | $147,600 | $1,732 |
| 15 | Jasper County, IN | 14.3% | $77,777 | $190,700 | $964 |
| 16 | McKean County, PA | 14.3% | $57,861 | $96,600 | $1,605 |
| 17 | LaGrange County, IN | 14.4% | $81,658 | $230,300 | $1,262 |
| 18 | Limestone County, AL | 14.4% | $80,146 | $229,400 | $734 |
| 19 | Posey County, IN | 14.4% | $75,594 | $200,900 | $1,306 |
| 20 | Warrick County, IN | 14.5% | $91,105 | $215,600 | $1,401 |
| 21 | Decatur County, IN | 14.5% | $71,566 | $174,400 | $1,159 |
| 22 | Clay County, IN | 14.6% | $68,364 | $130,000 | $596 |
| 23 | DeKalb County, IN | 14.6% | $68,110 | $157,700 | $1,070 |
| 24 | Noble County, IN | 14.6% | $70,286 | $168,100 | $1,174 |
| 25 | Plymouth County, IA | 14.6% | $79,963 | $199,800 | $2,303 |
| 26 | Jackson County, IN | 14.6% | $65,609 | $161,300 | $824 |
| 27 | Wells County, IN | 14.7% | $68,074 | $161,300 | $800 |
| 28 | Webster County, IA | 14.7% | $65,335 | $130,400 | $1,961 |
| 29 | Jennings County, IN | 14.8% | $66,892 | $133,200 | $857 |
| 30 | Boone County, KY | 15.0% | $91,697 | $237,600 | $2,154 |
| 31 | Henry County, OH | 15.0% | $71,616 | $157,500 | $1,885 |
| 32 | Oconee County, GA | 15.0% | $116,221 | $389,200 | $2,872 |
| 33 | Marshall County, IA | 15.1% | $70,828 | $125,900 | $1,946 |
| 34 | Bartholomew County, IN | 15.1% | $76,912 | $197,500 | $1,471 |
| 35 | Whitley County, IN | 15.2% | $73,636 | $189,800 | $1,348 |
| 36 | Harrison County, IN | 15.3% | $71,302 | $202,900 | $1,127 |
| 37 | Hendricks County, IN | 15.4% | $95,261 | $257,700 | $2,233 |
| 38 | Hancock County, IN | 15.4% | $85,262 | $235,500 | $1,652 |
| 39 | Hamilton County, IN | 15.4% | $114,866 | $350,900 | $3,119 |
| 40 | Sioux County, IA | 15.5% | $81,914 | $220,700 | $2,653 |
| 41 | Johnson County, IN | 15.7% | $82,730 | $240,700 | $1,753 |
| 42 | Morgan County, IN | 15.8% | $79,134 | $200,600 | $953 |
| 43 | Bremer County, IA | 15.9% | $84,727 | $202,600 | $2,795 |
| 44 | Lincoln County, MO | 15.9% | $82,543 | $206,800 | $1,662 |
| 45 | Powhatan County, VA | 16.3% | $108,089 | $356,500 | $2,337 |
| 46 | Dearborn County, IN | 16.4% | $80,352 | $210,800 | $1,597 |
| 47 | Forsyth County, GA | 16.4% | $131,660 | $451,100 | $3,500 |
| 48 | Oldham County, KY | 16.4% | $117,334 | $357,500 | $3,300 |
| 49 | St. Charles County, MO | 16.6% | $99,596 | $278,300 | $3,196 |
| 50 | Union County, OH | 17.1% | $104,496 | $282,900 | $3,587 |
Methodology
- Source: Census ACS 5-year tables, B25092 (selected monthly owner costs as a percentage of household income).
- Affordability index here is the median owner cost share of income reported by ACS for households with a mortgage.
- Counties below 25,000 residents are excluded so the list reflects places where most readers might actually live.
- Lower share of income spent on housing typically signals more discretionary cushion. It is not a measure of total cost.
- This is a snapshot of typical local affordability, not a forecast or a personalized recommendation.