STUDY: Who Can Afford to Live Where They Work?

A new study, "Making a Housing Wage," collects data on the share of for-sale homes that doctors, first responders, restaurant workers, and teachers can afford in the 55 largest U.S. metros.

Trulia senior economist Cheryl Young's research shows that affordability is an issue cutting across markets and list price ranges, and that more often than not, workers are affected by this, regardless of income level. The U.S. for-sale list price increased 19.2 percent since 2016, and wages have grown 6.7 percent. Americans earning the national median annual salary ($38,630) would need to spend 46.1 percent of their income on the national median-priced home ($285,000).

Increasingly, the people we rely on to educate our children, protect our neighborhoods and serve us in our local restaurants are struggling to afford a home in the same places where they work. And they aren’t alone.

Affordability woes are rampant in today’s housing market, and the cost of deteriorating housing affordability is measured both in how much households must spend on housing and in understanding who is (and isn’t) able to reasonably afford to buy homes in their communities.

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