The 10 most affordable U.S. cities to buy a home

Homeownership has rarely been further out of reach for most Americans, but in some midsize Rust Belt and Sun Belt cities, the math can still work.

Flint, Michigan, once closely linked with the auto industry, ranks as the nation's most affordable real estate market, according to a new analysis from WalletHub. The personal finance site based its findings on 10 factors, putting the heaviest weight on the ratio of median home prices to household income and the cost per square foot.

WalletHub scored each city on a 100-point scale, with higher scores reflecting greater affordability.

Flint ranked highest among the 300 cities in the analysis, followed by Detroit, WalletHub said. The median home price in Flint is about $66,000, compared with $76,500 in Detroit, according to Zillow.

The most unaffordable U.S. city for buying a home. That's Santa Barbara, California, where Zillow data shows the median home price is around $1.85 million.

Despite pockets of affordability, the U.S. property market remains challenging for homebuyers. The so-called affordability gap — the income needed to afford the median-priced U.S. home — has widened since 2020 as mortgage rates and home prices have climbed.

A buyer now needs an annual income of about $120,000 to afford a typical home, with the median sale price nationwide at about $400,000, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. In January 2020, that same buyer needed about $63,000.

Motivation to move

Still, most Americans are tied to where they live by jobs, family or other obligations, making it unlikely they would hop across the country just for a cheaper home.

Migration patterns suggest property affordability is only one factor in people's decision to relocate. An April analysis of IRS tax data from the Tax Foundation found that millions of Americans are moving from higher-tax states such as California and New York to lower-tax states, including Texas, Florida and North Carolina — none of which placed cities among WalletHub's 10 most affordable housing markets.

"Tax differentials may not be the primary reason for an interstate move, but they are often one of several factors people consider when deciding whether — and where — to move," the Tax Foundation said.

Older Americans are more likely to be motivated by tax considerations when deciding where to move compared with younger people, Hainan Sheng, assistant professor of real estate at Virginia Tech, told WalletHub. Many younger workers are driven by issues such as affordability, job opportunities and urban lifestyle, she said.

Affordability rankings do not capture other factors that buyers may weigh when choosing where to live. In Flint, that includes the city's history with its 2014 water crisis, when it switched from water purchased from the City of Detroit to water pumped from the Flint River to save money. 

Testing later revealed that the water sourced from the Flint River contained bacteria, carcinogens and elevated lead levels. WalletHub noted that Flint's water has been in compliance with EPA standards for six years.