Metro Study of Housing Costs

For homebuyers, the general budgeting rule of thumb is to spend less than 30 percent of their income on housing costs so as not to be cost-burdened.

A new study looks at metros where buyers have the most and least money left over after paying their h

March 5, 2019

A new study by Zillow looks at metros where buyers have the most and least money left over after paying their monthly rent or mortgage.

For homebuyers, the general budgeting rule of thumb is to spend less than 30 percent of their income on housing costs so as not to be cost-burdened. Their results show that the typical household with a median-sized mortgage in the District of Columbia has the most money left over, while their counterparts in metropolitan Los Angeles have the least. For rents, San Jose households had the most money left over.

The market with the second highest amount of money left over after rent is Washington, D.C., at $77,738 a year – but median-earning renters in D.C. pay just 25 percent of their incomes on the typical rent. That’s partly because the median household income is so high, and because the metro area covers much of Virginia and Maryland, where median rents are not as high as they are in the city center.

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