How Long Does It Take To Save for a Home in Every U.S. City?
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The data used in this analysis comes from a combination of sources: the Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey (ACS), Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index. Home price and mortgage rate data are from the first quarter of 2025, while income and housing cost data come from the 2023 ACS — the most recent available — and have been inflation-adjusted to 2025 dollars.
To determine how long it would take a typical household to save for a home in each location, the following assumptions were made:
- Buyers are assumed to earn the median household income for their area. They allocate no more than 30% of their gross income to total housing costs, which include mortgage payments, insurance, property taxes, utilities, and homeowner association (HOA) fees where applicable.
- Buyers are assumed to purchase a median-priced home in their area. The required down payment is calculated as the greater of 20% of the home price or the difference between the home price and the maximum mortgage loan amount the buyer can afford, based on the 30% income constraint and a mortgage rate of 6.83%.
- To save for the down payment, buyers save 10% of their gross income. Savings are assumed to grow at a 5% annual rate of return.
Only cities and states with complete data from all sources were included in the final analysis. Locations with a margin of error greater than 10% on any estimate were excluded. To improve comparability of estimates, cities were grouped by population size into 3 cohorts: small (fewer than 100,000 residents), midsize (100,000 to 349,999), and large (350,000 or more).
For complete results, see How Long Does It Take To Save for a Home in Every U.S. City? on Upgraded Points.
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