Shocking Cost of Owning a Home in New York, Tri-State Area

For decades American citizens both born here and those who've immigrated here have lived life in a way that allows to be able to obtain the "American Dream". The American Dream is the life that includes a home, the white picket fence, property, a backyard,  the family meaning one is married with children and the cat and dog that get along like best friends.

That American Dream is what millions upon millions of people have strived for and what millions and millions of people, myself included, hope to obtain one day in the future. Sadly here's where some cold water has recently been poured on the American Dream and it comes in the form of home ownership or rather the difficulty in people being able to afford a home in America today.

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Affording a Typical Home

A recent study done by Bankrate analyzed the numbers and shocker, owning a home in America today is incredibly expensive. The title of the study is literally "Americans Need a Six-Figure Salary to Afford a Typical Home in Nearly Half of the U.S". 

The study compared and contrasted the differences in markets from just four years ago and determined that there are a number of different factors that have made buying a home today so much more difficult. Some of those factors would be...

A combination of high mortgage rates, rising home prices and low housing inventory over the last two years is pushing homeownership further out of reach for would-be homeowners, especially first-timers.

The study also answered some important basic questions regarding the affordability of homes today and why it is so difficult now. One of those basic questions is how much a 'median home' costs and in this case a median home is priced at $402,343. That means Americans would need an annual income of $110,871 to afford a median home, a price increase of 46% compared to in 2020. An annual salary of $100,000 is required to afford a median home in 22 of America's 50 states.

New York and the Tri-State Area

If those numbers made your eyes jump out of your head, get ready for the numbers for New York and the rest of the Tri-State Area because, shocker, it's all gotten more expensive. According to the study, a median-priced home in New York cost $111,596 in 2020 but now in 2024, a median-priced home costs $148,286.

Prices have increased significantly in both New Jersey and Connecticut as well. In comparison, a median-priced home in NJ and CT in 2020 was $104,986 and $86,951 whereas in 2024 the cost is now $152,186 and $119,614 respectively.

Percentage-wise that means prices in New York rose by 32.9%, 45% in New Jersey, and 37.6% in Connecticut. Here's another factor to take into consideration, according to the most recent Census data from 2022, the national median household income in America is $74,580. That number is down from 2021 when the national median household income in America was estimated at $76,330 annually.

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A report from Fox 5 News took the information from the same study and went a step further, analyzing the prices needed to 'live comfortably' as a single person and with a family if you live in New York City. City people, you're going to want to sit down for these numbers.

According to Fox 5...

it takes the most money to live comfortably as a single person in New York City, requiring $66.62 in hourly wages, or an annual salary of $138,570....

That total is $63,000 dollars more than what it would cost to live in America's lowest-ranking city on this particular list, that city being Houston, Texas. NYC is also only one of six cities that would require a family living in the city to make an annual income of over $300K. To live comfortably as a family of 4 in NYC would cost $318,406 exactly to 'live comfortably'.

Most and Least Expensive States to Afford a Typical Home in America

These numbers back up other previously done studies analyzing the differences in pricing across America. The North East and Western US tend to be more expensive than the South and the Midwest. You can read more on that by following the link below.

Link: Recent Studies Rank New York as One of the Most Expensive States to be "Middle Class"

According to the Bankrate study the states which require the highest yearly income to afford a typical home in the U.S. are....

• California: $197,05
• Hawaii: $185,829
• District of Columbia: $167,871
• Massachusetts: $162,471
• Washington: $156,814

The states at the bottom of the same list are...

• Mississippi: $63,043
• Ohio: $64,071
• Arkansas: $64,714
• Indiana: $65,143
• Kentucky: $65,186

The Bankrate study lays out a wealth of other information breaking down all the who, what, when, where and why of all the reasons for the price changes across all of America. I would encourage anyone to read that full article to gain full understanding for themselves.

To sum it all up, everything is more expensive and growing in price, in some places much quicker than others, meanwhile, the paycheck is not going as far as it once did. This is not a good trend and it is going to take substantial change or individuals leaving expensive states for cheaper ones if people still desire that slice of the American Dream for themselves.