Love and a New View: Affordable Listings Nearly Quadruple for Couples
Couples can afford 3.7 times as many homes for sale as singles
Finding love is wonderful for all sorts of reasons — a lifelong TV buddy, a permanent plus-one for weddings, and, quite possibly, the ability to buy a home. A new analysis from Zillow finds a couple making the median income could comfortably afford to buy 29% of homes on the market. That’s 3.7 times more than the 8% of homes a solo buyer could afford.
That national “couples advantage” is nothing compared to the advantages in some metro areas across the country. The biggest difference is in Seattle, where couples could afford more than 40 times the number of homes for sale (0.3% for singles, vs. 12.8% for a couple).
Other notable markets include Sacramento (27.5 times the share of affordable listings for couples) Las Vegas (24.3 times), Raleigh (23.3 times) and Cincinnati, where the share of affordable listings rises from 8.9% for singles to 51.3% for couples, the largest difference in the country in terms of percentage points.
For couples who simply want the most options, Pittsburgh is the place to be, with 65% of listings affordable for the typical couple. Buffalo, Zillow’s two-time reigning hottest market, is not far behind with 61% of listings affordable for a typical couple.
Unfortunately for singles in San Jose — the most expensive large market in the country — no current listings are comfortably affordable. But two people making the median income have some chance, with 0.8% of listings being affordable.
Methodology
To calculate this “couples advantage”, Zillow looked at the median income for singles — individuals who are not married, divorced, separated or widowed — nationally ($36,100) and for each of the 50 largest metro areas. The share of “affordable” listings is the share of active for-sale listings in December — the latest data available at the time of this analysis — for which the monthly mortgage payment (including estimated property taxes, insurance and maintenance costs) would account for no more than 30% of income for one or two buyers earning that median income for singles. This research assumes a buyer — or buyers — would put 20% down and secure a mortgage at the average rate in December, according to Freddie Mac.
| Metro Area | Median Individual Income | Share of Affordable Listings: Single Buyer |
Share of Affordable Listings: Couple |
Difference: Share of Affordable Listings for Couples vs. Singles |
| United States | $36,100 | 7.8% | 28.9% | 3.7x |
| New York, NY | $45,050 | 1.5% | 10.3% | 7.1x |
| Los Angeles, CA | $40,000 | 0.2% | 1.1% | 5.8x |
| Chicago, IL | $40,000 | 6.5% | 36.3% | 5.6x |
| Dallas, TX | $36,000 | 0.9% | 10.7% | 11.5x |
| Houston, TX | $34,000 | 3.1% | 23.1% | 7.4x |
| Washington, D.C. | $50,000 | 3.4% | 24.4% | 7.3x |
| Philadelphia, PA | $40,000 | 9.5% | 41.0% | 4.3x |
| Miami, FL | $35,000 | 2.7% | 18.7% | 6.9x |
| Atlanta, GA | $37,000 | 3.6% | 23.6% | 6.6x |
| Boston, MA | $50,000 | 0.6% | 9.3% | 14.3x |
| Phoenix, AZ | $40,000 | 0.6% | 12.2% | 20x |
| San Francisco, CA | $56,020 | 1.2% | 10.0% | 8.4x |
| Riverside, CA | $33,000 | 1.3% | 4.6% | 3.6x |
| Detroit, MI | $37,000 | 25.9% | 58.5% | 2.3x |
| Seattle, WA | $51,000 | 0.3% | 12.8% | 40.8x |
| Minneapolis, MN | $43,000 | 5.2% | 36.3% | 7x |
| San Diego, CA | $41,600 | 0.2% | 1.8% | 10.1x |
| Tampa, FL | $35,500 | 2.2% | 21.2% | 9.7x |
| Denver, CO | $48,000 | 1.5% | 19.3% | 12.7x |
| Baltimore, MD | $43,000 | 12.6% | 47.9% | 3.8x |
| St. Louis, MO | $35,100 | 24.3% | 55.9% | 2.3x |
| Orlando, FL | $35,000 | 1.3% | 15.8% | 12.5x |
| Charlotte, NC | $38,000 | 2.5% | 25.8% | 10.1x |
| San Antonio, TX | $31,200 | 2.7% | 20.9% | 7.6x |
| Portland, OR | $41,000 | 1.1% | 12.5% | 11.2x |
| Sacramento, CA | $37,000 | 0.1% | 3.9% | 27.5x |
| Pittsburgh, PA | $40,000 | 25.6% | 64.7% | 2.5x |
| Cincinnati, OH | $37,000 | 8.9% | 51.3% | 5.7x |
| Austin, TX | $45,000 | 0.5% | 12.5% | 22.8x |
| Las Vegas, NV | $36,000 | 0.6% | 15.3% | 24.3x |
| Kansas City, MO | $36,000 | 7.9% | 42.3% | 5.3x |
| Columbus, OH | $38,000 | 4.9% | 37.5% | 7.6x |
| Indianapolis, IN | $37,400 | 7.9% | 47.4% | 6x |
| Cleveland, OH | $36,000 | 20.0% | 56.8% | 2.8x |
| San Jose, CA | $53,200 | 0.0% | 0.8% | N/A |
| Nashville, TN | $38,900 | 0.6% | 12.5% | 20.2x |
| Virginia Beach, VA | $37,000 | 2.3% | 27.5% | 12.2x |
| Providence, RI | $40,000 | 1.0% | 9.3% | 9.1x |
| Jacksonville, FL | $35,000 | 3.0% | 24.2% | 7.9x |
| Milwaukee, WI | $40,000 | 14.1% | 50.4% | 3.6x |
| Oklahoma City, OK | $34,000 | 4.2% | 30.5% | 7.2x |
| Raleigh, NC | $40,000 | 0.8% | 19.2% | 23.3x |
| Memphis, TN | $33,300 | 14.9% | 38.9% | 2.6x |
| Richmond, VA | $39,000 | 3.3% | 29.4% | 8.8x |
| Louisville, KY | $35,000 | 9.2% | 45.2% | 4.9x |
| New Orleans, LA | $33,000 | 3.9% | 28.3% | 7.3x |
| Salt Lake City, UT | $38,000 | 0.4% | 6.8% | 19.4x |
| Hartford, CT | $40,000 | 6.8% | 24.4% | 3.6x |
| Buffalo, NY | $40,000 | 18.7% | 60.5% | 3.2x |
| Birmingham, AL | $33,000 | 14.2% | 42.1% | 3x |
