Home Values and Income by ZIP: the Value-to-Income Ratio (2026)
The home-values card puts the ZIP's median home value against its median household income and states the ratio: how many years of income a typical home costs. It is the plainest affordability read on a dossier, and the ratio is what sets the discount a distressed seller must give before a local buyer can close. This report ranks the least affordable ZIPs with at least five thousand people and gives the national averages.
- Across 33,772 ZIPs the average median home value is $297,676 and the average median income $76,308, a home-values ratio averaging 3.50 (ACS 2023).
- 4,311 ZIPs carry a value-to-income ratio of five or more, where local income cannot carry the price.
- 10454 in Bronx County, NY is least affordable at 28.39 times income, $792,000 against $27,500.
- The home-values ratio is what sets the discount a distressed seller must give before a local buyer can close.
home-values: the home-values card figures as of 2026-10-20; source Census home-value and income figures by ZIP.
| ZIP (county, state) | Value-to-income | Median home value | Median income | Rent burden 30%+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10454 (Bronx, NY) | 28.39x | $792,000 | $27,500 | 50.7% |
| 94305 (Santa Clara, CA) | 27.60x | $2,000,001 | $72,470 | 64.2% |
| 90013 (Los Angeles, CA) | 23.95x | $800,500 | $32,848 | 40.6% |
| 90007 (Los Angeles, CA) | 23.67x | $861,700 | $36,032 | 57.5% |
| 90004 (Los Angeles, CA) | 23.26x | $1,552,100 | $62,655 | 53.4% |
| 10029 (New York, NY) | 21.36x | $892,200 | $38,308 | 43.2% |
| 78705 (Travis, TX) | 20.70x | $647,600 | $30,336 | 63.6% |
| 90005 (Los Angeles, CA) | 20.56x | $975,200 | $52,755 | 50.9% |
| 11219 (Kings, NY) | 19.50x | $1,137,300 | $55,685 | 56.2% |
| 90027 (Los Angeles, CA) | 19.30x | $1,776,400 | $90,532 | 41.6% |
Least affordable ZIPs by value-to-income ratio (5,000+ people, income $20K+) (home-values, as of 2026-10-20)
ZIPs where values run furthest ahead of income (home-values)
10454 in Bronx County, NY: 28.39 times income, value $792,000, income $27,500, rent burden 50.7%; 94305 in Santa Clara County, CA: 27.60 times income, value $2,000,001, income $72,470, rent burden 64.2%; 90013 in Los Angeles County, CA: 23.95 times income, value $800,500, income $32,848, rent burden 40.6%; 90007 in Los Angeles County, CA: 23.67 times income, value $861,700, income $36,032, rent burden 57.5%; 90004 in Los Angeles County, CA: 23.26 times income, value $1,552,100, income $62,655, rent burden 53.4%; 10029 in New York County, NY: 21.36 times income, value $892,200, income $38,308, rent burden 43.2%.
What home-values measures
Median home value, median and mean household income, the value-to-income ratio and the Census rent-burden shares at thirty and fifty percent of income. The mean income is shown beside the median so a user can see skew from high earners.
How home-values is computed
All figures are Census tabulations for the ZIP; the ratio is median value divided by median income. ZIPs under five thousand people or under twenty thousand dollars of median income are excluded from the ranking to keep the ratio meaningful.
How to use home-values on a deal
A ratio above five is an appreciation market where local income cannot carry the price: distressed sellers there must find investors, not owner-occupiers, and the discount is deeper. A ratio near three is an income market where a repaired house sells to a local family; the discount is shallower and the exit faster.
Read home-values on your ZIPs
The affordability radar ranks every ZIP by the ratio; the live board shows the card beside each parcel's assessed value.
Home-values refreshes with its source table.
Home Values and Income by ZIP: the Value-to-Income Ratio (2026): questions
Is median value an appraisal?
No. It is the Census owner-reported median, a market-level read; the replacement-cost card and the roll's assessed value are the parcel-level reads.
Why show mean income too?
A mean far above the median says a few high earners pull the average; the median is what the typical buyer earns.
How does rent burden fit?
It shows whether renters in the same ZIP are stretched, which bounds the rental exit for an investor.
More on the home-values card
Home Values and Income by ZIP: the Value-to-Income Ratio (2026) (home-values) is computed from Census home-value and income figures by ZIP; the home-values card is research (home-values), not legal advice; nothing on the home-values page is tax or home-values investment advice, so verify every home-values figure with its issuing agency before acting.