Revealing the Most and Least Affordable States To Buy a Home

Unveiling the surprising findings for the most inexpensive states.

Do you know which states are the most and least affordable to buy a home in? Would you be surprised to hear that the cheapest, or the most inexpensive, state is Illinois? Well, that’s the truth, and today I’m here to dive more into these statistics. 

A California-based boutique brokerage Ruby Home did a study that focused on the income-to-sales-price ratio for each state in the country. They crunched the numbers from Zillow’s median home price and the median household income data. Illinois secured the top spot on the list, with a median sales price of $133,750 in 2022. 

"The most inexpensive state in the country is Illinois."

Unsurprisingly, Chicago was the most expensive city in Illinois, with a median sales price of $282,750. In contrast, when you go three hours southeast of Chicago, you’ll get to Galesburg, the state's most affordable city with a median sales price of only $90,000. 

Illinois’ income-to-sales-price ratio is 1.69%, which means the average homebuyer spends 1.69 times their annual salary on a home. Ohio secured second place in this study with a median sales price of $155,000. Also, New York was surprisingly a top-ten contender, with a median sales price of $192,500 and a median household income of $72,920. New York City was the state's most expensive city. 

If you have any questions about this or want more information, please don’t hesitate to reach out. You can call or email me anytime, and I would be happy to help you with your real estate journey.