Housing Affordability Radar
A home-value-to-income discount map across every U.S. ZIP code and county. The Affordability Radar ranks where housing is cheapest relative to what people locally earn - the markets where the same paycheck buys the most home, and where value investors go looking first.
Actual DLRadar results · record-level detail unlocks with a plan
The single most durable measure of a housing market is not a price - it is a ratio. Divide a market's median home value by its median household income and you get the value-to-income (VTI) ratio: how many years of local income it takes to afford the typical home. It is the number that lets you compare a $90,000 town in Ohio with a $900,000 metro in California on equal footing. A low ratio means homes are affordable, and often undervalued, against the incomes that actually have to support them. A high ratio means prices have run ahead of wages and the market is stretched.
The national affordability read
Across the 16,976 populated ZIP codes we score, the median home costs about 3.31x the local median household income, and the average runs 3.90x. Roughly 6,627 ZIPs sit in affordable territory (3.0 or under) - including 993 deeply affordable ZIPs at 2.0 or below - while 3,196 have pushed to 5.0 or higher. At the county level, the median across 3,219 U.S. counties is 2.86x.
Most affordable ZIP codes in America
Lowest home-value-to-income ratio (median home value versus median household income, ACS). Open any ZIP for its full stress report.
| ZIP | State | Value-to-income | Median home value | Median income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10475 | New York | 0.51x | $33,200 | $62,712 |
| 86033 | Arizona | 0.80x | $36,200 | $40,313 |
| 48505 | Michigan | 0.90x | $31,700 | $33,283 |
| 48217 | Michigan | 0.97x | $65,500 | $44,447 |
| 17976 | Pennsylvania | 1.02x | $55,200 | $57,587 |
| 62205 | Illinois | 1.13x | $41,800 | $45,672 |
| 44502 | Ohio | 1.16x | $42,100 | $31,170 |
| 33815 | Florida | 1.17x | $39,500 | $37,487 |
| 78580 | Texas | 1.25x | $71,700 | $53,841 |
| 43605 | Ohio | 1.26x | $49,700 | $39,118 |
| 60942 | Illinois | 1.27x | $92,000 | $61,083 |
| 76661 | Texas | 1.29x | $66,700 | $41,056 |
| 86503 | Arizona | 1.30x | $37,800 | $36,321 |
| 48229 | Michigan | 1.31x | $65,400 | $40,264 |
| 29477 | South Carolina | 1.31x | $90,300 | $53,894 |
| 48504 | Michigan | 1.32x | $53,500 | $38,719 |
| 15906 | Pennsylvania | 1.33x | $57,100 | $43,284 |
| 86505 | Arizona | 1.33x | $36,700 | $28,547 |
| 15133 | Pennsylvania | 1.34x | $97,500 | $65,938 |
| 79339 | Texas | 1.34x | $79,000 | $60,375 |
| 79745 | Texas | 1.34x | $154,100 | $80,585 |
| 15033 | Pennsylvania | 1.35x | $62,500 | $39,921 |
| 17851 | Pennsylvania | 1.36x | $79,300 | $53,637 |
| 48205 | Michigan | 1.37x | $65,300 | $38,966 |
| 86045 | Arizona | 1.37x | $68,200 | $50,844 |
How to read the value-to-income ratio
Housing analysts have leaned on the value-to-income ratio for decades because it travels. Prices tell you nothing without the income behind them: a $250,000 home is a strong value in one metro and a stretch in another. By anchoring value to the local median household income, the ratio strips out the noise and exposes the underlying affordability. As a rough guide, 2.0 or below is deeply affordable, 3.0 is the traditional line of affordability, 4.0 is elevated, and 5.0 and up is severely unaffordable - the zone where a downturn tends to bite hardest.
For investors, a low ratio is a starting flag, not a verdict. Undervalued relative to income usually translates into better rent-to-price yields and a wider margin of safety on entry, which is exactly why cash-flow buyers hunt in these ZIPs. But affordability and distress often overlap: the cheapest markets can also be the ones with thinner demand, older stock, or economic headwinds. The right move is to pair this affordability lens with the distress and market-phase data below, then underwrite the actual property.
Methodology
Every figure on this page comes from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS). We take median owner-occupied home value and median household income for each ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA), compute the value-to-income ratio, and roll the same measures up to county and state. To keep the medians and the rankings honest we screen out ZCTAs with very small populations and implausibly low reported values, where ACS sampling error is largest. The data is aggregate and public - no owner names, addresses, or parcel-level records appear anywhere on this page. Numbers refresh on the ACS release cadence.
Turn affordability into a target list
The Affordability Radar shows you where the value is. A DLRadar plan turns that read into an acquisition workflow - distress scores, pre-foreclosure and distressed inventory, and market-phase signals inside every ZIP.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the home-value-to-income ratio?
The value-to-income (VTI) ratio divides a market's median home value by its median household income. A ratio of 3.0 means the typical home costs three years of typical income. Lower ratios mean housing is cheaper relative to what people locally earn - the classic yardstick for affordability. Economists often call a ratio at or below 3.0 affordable and 5.0 or higher severely unaffordable.
What does 'affordable' or 'undervalued' mean for an investor?
A low value-to-income ratio signals that homes are priced conservatively against the local income base. For long-term rental investors that usually means stronger rent-to-price yields, a wider margin of safety, and less downside if prices soften. A low ratio does not guarantee a good deal - it flags where to look for one, then you underwrite the specific property.
Where does the data come from?
Every number is drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) - median home value from the housing tables and median household income from the income tables - joined at the ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) and rolled up to county and state. It is public, aggregate data refreshed on the ACS release cadence.
Why are some ultra-low ZIPs unusual?
A handful of ZIPs show very low ratios because of cooperative housing, tribal-trust land, or thin ACS samples where reported owner value is unusually low. We apply population and value floors to screen the worst noise, but the ranking still reflects raw ACS reality - always confirm on the ground before acting.