Data & Press

We compared the income a lender typically wants to see (using the standard 28% debt-to-income guideline) against actual median household income, in every US state. In 29 states — including California, New York, Washington, and Colorado — the gap is large enough that a single earner at the median household income can no longer comfortably qualify for a median-priced home alone.

Nationally, the median home now requires roughly $112,900/year in income to buy at standard lending guidelines, while the median household earns roughly $83,700 — a $29,200 gap.

• Hawaii — needs $93,209/year more than the median household earns
• California — needs $92,000/year more than the median household earns
• Massachusetts — needs $86,000/year more than the median household earns

<img src="https://themortgageledger.com/press/income-gap-by-state.png"
     alt="The 15 largest gaps between the income needed to buy a median home and median household income, by US state"
     width="1000" />
<p>Source: <a href="https://themortgageledger.com/press#dual-income-required">The Mortgage Ledger</a></p>

Beyond cost, the three countries handle flood coverage completely differently. In the UK, flood damage is typically included in a standard home insurance policy. In the US, flood coverage is never included — it always requires a completely separate federal (NFIP) policy. In Canada, overland flood coverage is an optional private add-on, a genuinely distinct third model that's only been widely available since 2015, and can be unavailable altogether in the highest-risk zones.

This isn't a minor technical difference — it's the kind of thing that catches homebuyers off guard when they assume their coverage works the way it did in a different country.

The full three-country comparison, including costs by state, province, and nation: Home insurance, explained.

Federal Reserve data shows the median homeowner's net worth sits around $396,200, compared to roughly $10,400for the median renter. The honest caveat, worth including in any story that cites this: the gap reflects both the genuine wealth-building effect of homeownership (forced savings through equity, leverage, protection from rising rent) and the fact that wealthier households are more likely to become homeowners in the first place — it's not purely causal.

The mechanisms and caveats in full: Why real estate builds wealth — and when it doesn't.