Far Better Off data · Housing
What income do you need to buy a house?
The short answer
Buying the median new home in America takes $116,349 a year — 1.33× what the median household earns. That is a $2,715 monthly payment on a $410,700 house with 20% down at 7.28%, held to the 28% of gross income lenders call the front-end ratio.
Price: Q2 2026 · Rate: Oct 1, 2026 · Income: 2025
The arithmetic, in full
Nothing here is rounded until it is printed, and nothing is assumed that is not named. Every input is a public series or a figure the rest of the site already sources; you can rebuild the answer from the rows below.
| Median new-home priceQ2 2026, Census and HUD | $410,700 |
| Down payment (20%)cash, not borrowed | − $82,140 |
| Amount borrowed30-year fixed at 7.28% | $328,560 |
| Principal and interestFreddie Mac PMMS, Oct 1, 2026 | $2,248/mo |
| Property tax0.89% of the price a year (2024 ACS) | + $305/mo |
| Homeowners insurance$1,946 a year at this price (2024 ACS) | + $162/mo |
| Monthly paymentprincipal, interest, taxes, insurance | $2,715/mo |
| Income the 28% rule asks forthe payment ÷ 28% × 12 | $116,349 a year |
Run it on your own price, rate and down payment in the home affordability calculator — or call the free API and get the same figures as JSON.
Against what households actually earn
Median household income was $87,460 in 2025, the newest year the Census Bureau has published. Three ways of saying the same thing:
- 1.33×— the income the median new home asks for, as a multiple of the median household's. The gap is $28,889 a year.
- 37.2%— what that payment would take of a median household's gross income, against the 28% lenders treat as comfortable.
- $304,557 — the house that same rule reaches on a median income, $106,143below the median new home's price.
The income figure is the oldest input on the page: the Census Bureau reports a calendar year in the September after it, so 2025 is the newest reading available and wages have moved since. The price and the rate are current, which means the multiple above is, if anything, a little flattering.
The same rule at other prices
The national median is one house in one quarter. At 7.28% with 20% down, and the same sourced tax rate and premium, here is the income the 28% rule asks for across the range most American markets sit in.
| Home price | Monthly payment | Income needed |
|---|---|---|
| $250,000 | $1,693/mo | $72,551 |
| $300,000 | $2,012/mo | $86,217 |
| $350,000 | $2,330/mo | $99,844 |
| $400,000 | $2,647/mo | $113,442 |
| $500,000 | $3,280/mo | $140,573 |
| $650,000 | $4,227/mo | $181,155 |
| $800,000 | $5,172/mo | $221,643 |
Property tax varies by county from about 0.3% to over 2% of the price, so your own bill can move these by tens of thousands of dollars of required income. The mortgage calculator takes your real numbers.
Putting 10% down instead of 20%
Half the cash costs twice: the loan is bigger, and under 20% down a conventional lender charges private mortgage insurance until the balance reaches about 80% of the home's original value. On the same $410,700 house that is $154 a month of mortgage insurance, a $3,150 payment, and $134,992 of income — $18,644 a year more than the 20%-down answer. The mortgage calculator adds PMI automatically and shows the month it comes off.
What this figure is, and what it leaves out
The honest boundaries of the number, stated here rather than in a footnote:
- New houses only. Median sales price of new houses soldis the Census Bureau's New Residential Sales median, so it prices a newly built home. New homes sell at a premium to the existing stock; it is used because it is the only national median sales price published free of copyright terms.
- No HOA dues, maintenance, utilities or closing costs.The payment is the four things a lender measures — principal, interest, taxes and insurance. Upkeep alone runs around 1% of the home's value a year, which the rent vs. buy calculator charges and this figure does not.
- No other debts. A car payment or student loan brings the 36% back-end limit into play and lowers the house the same income reaches. The debt-to-income calculator shows where that line falls.
- National averages for tax and insurance. 0.89% of value a year and a premium fitted to home value, both from the 2024 American Community Survey. Your county and your carrier are the real numbers.
- Gross income, not take-home. The 28/36 rule is written against gross pay because underwriting is. Your paycheck is smaller.
Sources, and how to cite this
Three public series, refreshed every six hours, each one a link you can check:
| Median sales price of new houses soldU.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, MSPUS | $410,700Q2 2026 |
| 30-year fixed rate mortgage averageFreddie Mac, MORTGAGE30US | 7.28%Oct 1, 2026 |
| Median household income in the United StatesU.S. Census Bureau, MEHOINUSA646N | $87,4602025 |
The arithmetic between them is incomeNeededForHome in @calcwise/finance, an MIT-licensed, dependency-free library — so the figure is reproducible rather than asserted. Quote it freely, with or without a link:
Far Better Off, "What income do you need to buy a house?", https://farbetteroff.com/income-needed-to-buy-a-house (Q2 2026 price, Oct 1, 2026 rate).
If you are quoting this figure from software rather than from a page, it is also JSON at /api/v1/income-needed-to-buy-a-house — the same numbers from the same snapshot, with every source reading, its date and its publisher beside it. No key, no signup, and CORS is open, so a script on your own page can fetch it directly. It carries asOf, the date the figure last changed, which is what to cache on.
Frequently asked questions
What income do you need to buy a house?
At the current median new-home price of $410,700 (Q2 2026) and a 7.28% 30-year fixed rate (Oct 1, 2026), the 28% rule asks for $116,349 a year with 20% down. That covers a $2,715 monthly payment: $2,248 of principal and interest, $305 of property tax and $162 of homeowners insurance.
Is that more than a typical household earns?
Yes. Median household income was $87,460 in 2025 (Census Bureau), so the median new home now asks for 1.33 times what the median household earns — a gap of $28,889 a year. At that income the same rule reaches about $304,557, or $106,143 short of the median new home's price.
What income do you need with less than 20% down?
More, for two reasons. On 10% down the loan is bigger and private mortgage insurance is charged on a conventional loan until the balance falls to about 80% of the original value. On the same house that is $3,150 a month and $134,992 of income — $18,644 a year more than the 20%-down answer.
Does the 28% rule use gross or take-home pay?
Gross, before tax, because that is what lenders measure. The companion 36% limit covers housing plus every other debt payment, so a car loan or student loan lowers the house the same income reaches. On this page there are no other debts, which makes the 28% side the one that binds.
Why the median NEW home?
Because it is the only national median sales price the federal government publishes, and it is free to cite. New houses sell at a premium to existing ones, so treat this as the price of a newly built home rather than of the typical home on the market. The table further down runs the same arithmetic at other prices.
Related: how much should my mortgage be · how much should I spend on rent · is 43% still the DTI limit
What income do you need to buy a house? · Far Better Off
https://farbetteroff.com/income-needed-to-buy-a-house
Open that link for the live version of this page. Estimates for education only — Far Better Off is not a lender or a financial advisor, and these results are not financial advice.