These Are The Most “House Rich” Places In America

If you’ve ever thought about where in the country people are most able to afford their homes, a new report answers that question.

Home repair company All Star Home recently released findings analyzing the the “house richness” of different US locations or overall homeownership affordability rate as compared to the local median income. So, which place topped the list you ask? West Virginia. Here’s why.

Using Census data, the state appears to offer the most affordable housing for the large percentage of its population.

The report also points to Iowa, Michigan, and Indiana as house rich states. Conversely, the least house rich states are California, Hawaii, and New York, the states with the highest costs of living.

It’s unsurprising these location landed at the bottom of the house rich list, particularly New York as it has recently been deemed one of the most expensive places to live in the county. As previously reported by ESSENCE, a $100k annual salary in NYC feels like what $36k according to financial education platform Smart Asset 2023 findings from a wide-reaching survey. It analyzed on far a $100,000 salary will go in several metro areas across the US.

The report states: “Accelerated depletion of savings will increase the urgency for those staying on the sidelines to join the labor force, and the resulting increase in labor supply will likely dampen wage growth.”

All Star Home’s report adds: “A mere 56% of Californians are homeowners, only slightly more than New York’s 54%. And these states’ home-value-to-income ratios are abominable when compared to the national average (3.33). California sits at 6.82, Hawaii at 7.52, and New York at 4.53.”