You Can Afford a Mortgage in These 13 Cities on Just a $40K Salary

If you have dreamed of owning your own home but have been afraid that your salary won’t cover your mortgage , you are not alone. Many people cite cost barriers as the number one reason they do not buy property. Luckily, there are cities nationwide where you can purchase a home making a salary of $40,000 or less.

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Here are 13 places where you can afford a mortgage on an income well under the national average.

Money mistakes the super wealthy never make - that you might be doing now.

Detroit

• Salary needed to afford mortgage with 20% down payment: $14,315
• Savings needed for 20% down payment: $14,199
• Annual mortgage with 20% down payment: $4,295
• Average typical home value: $70,997

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Cleveland

• Salary needed to afford mortgage with 20% down payment: $21,763
• Savings needed for 20% down payment: $21,587
• Annual mortgage with 20% down payment: $6,529
• Average typical home value: $107,935

Toledo, Ohio

• Salary needed to afford mortgage with 20% down payment: $24,133
• Savings needed for 20% down payment: $23,938
• Annual mortgage with 20% down payment: $7,240
• Average typical home value: $119,690

Birmingham, Alabama

• Salary needed to afford mortgage with 20% down payment: $25,120
• Savings needed for 20% down payment: $24,917
• Annual mortgage with 20% down payment: $7,536
• Average typical home value: $124,586

Akron, Ohio

• Salary needed to afford mortgage with 20% down payment: $26,374
• Savings needed for 20% down payment: $26,160
• Annual mortgage with 20% down payment: $7,912
• Average typical home value: $130,801

Dayton, Ohio

• Salary needed to afford mortgage with 20% down payment: $28,797
• Savings needed for 20% down payment: $28,564
• Annual mortgage with 20% down payment: $8,639
• Average typical home value: $142,820

Memphis, Tennessee

• Salary needed to afford mortgage with 20% down payment: $29,721
• Savings needed for 20% down payment: $29,481
• Annual mortgage with 20% down payment: $8,916
• Average typical home value: $147,405

St. Louis

• Salary needed to afford mortgage with 20% down payment: $35,357
• Savings needed for 20% down payment: $35,071
• Annual mortgage with 20% down payment: $10,607
• Average typical home value: $175,356

Brownsville, Texas

• Salary needed to afford mortgage with 20% down payment: $37,477
• Savings needed for 20% down payment: $37,174
• Annual mortgage with 20% down payment: $11,243
• Average typical home value: $185,869

Baltimore

• Salary needed to afford mortgage with 20% down payment: $37,738
• Savings needed for 20% down payment: $37,433
• Annual mortgage with 20% down payment: $11,321
• Average typical home value: $187,163

Syracuse, New York

• Salary needed to afford mortgage with 20% down payment: $37,946
• Savings needed for 20% down payment: $37,639
• Annual mortgage with 20% down payment: $11,384
• Average typical home value: $188,194

Mobile, Alabama

• Salary needed to afford mortgage with 20% down payment: $38,773
• Savings needed for 20% down payment: $38,459
• Annual mortgage with 20% down payment: $11,632
• Average typical home value: $192,297

Wichita, Kansas

• Salary needed to afford mortgage with 20% down payment: $39,923
• Savings needed for 20% down payment: $39,600
• Annual mortgage with 20% down payment: $11,977
• Average typical home value: $197,998

Methodology: For this piece, GOBankingRates looked at the 50 largest housing markets with 2024 typical home values below $300,000, as sourced from July 2024 Zillow data. GOBankingRates deemed this “affordable,” as the national average is $361,433, thus $300,000 and below is well below the national average (15% plus). With these cities isolated, GOBankingRates found the following: (1) savings needed for a down payment at 20%, 15%, 10% and 6%; (2) annual mortgage cost at 20%, 15%, 10% and 6%, respectively; and (3) salary needed to afford the mortgage at 20%, 15%, 10% and 6%, assuming that no more than 30% of pre-tax income should be put towards housing. For all mortgage calculations, GOBankingRates assumed a 30-year fixed rate at 6.47%, as sourced from Freddie Mac, with no P+I, property tax or HOA fees. All data was collected and is up to date as of Aug. 13, 2024.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : You Can Afford a Mortgage in These 13 Cities on Just a $40K Salary