The Down Payment You’d Need To Comfortably Afford a Home in These Popular Cities

With interest rates and home prices as high as they are, the average American is no longer able to comfortably afford a home with a 20% down payment, a recent Zillow study found.

In order to make monthly mortgage costs affordable — meaning principal and interest, plus property taxes and insurance, take up no more than 30% of household income — a homebuyer making the median U.S. income would need to put down a 35.4% down payment, or roughly $127,750, to afford an average-priced home. In some U.S. cities, residents earning the median income need to put down even higher percentages to keep monthly mortgage costs manageable.

Here’s a look at the down payment median income earners would need to provide to comfortably afford monthly mortgage costs in several major U.S. cities.

• Typical home value: $657,279
• Down payment needed ($): $494,795
• Down payment needed (%): 75.3%

• Typical home value: $962,388
• Down payment needed ($): $780,203
• Down payment needed (%): 81.1%

• Typical home value: $321,897
• Down payment needed ($): $95,953
• Down payment needed (%): 29.8%

• Typical home value: $381,104
• Down payment needed ($): $152,586
• Down payment needed (%): 40%

• Typical home value: $310,707
• Down payment needed ($): $76,825
• Down payment needed (%): 24.7%

• Typical home value: $568,862
• Down payment needed ($): $188,087
• Down payment needed (%): 33.1%

• Typical home value: $362,204
• Down payment needed ($): $103,471
• Down payment needed (%): 28.6%

• Typical home value: $490,088
• Down payment needed ($): $316,270
• Down payment needed (%): 64.5%

• Typical home value: $387,471
• Down payment needed ($): $118,239
• Down payment needed (%): 30.5%

• Typical home value: $701,349
• Down payment needed ($): $432,875
• Down payment needed (%): 61.7%

• Typical home value: $461,352
• Down payment needed ($): $186,012
• Down payment needed (%): 40.3%

• Typical home value: $1,183,272
• Down payment needed ($): $887,656
• Down payment needed (%): 75%

• Typical home value: $584,710
• Down payment needed ($): $358,926
• Down payment needed (%): 61.4%

• Typical home value: $254,325
• Down payment needed ($): $24,132
• Down payment needed (%): 9.5%

• Typical home value: $753,414
• Down payment needed ($): $462,095
• Down payment needed (%): 61.3%

• Typical home value: $378,924
• Down payment needed ($): $102,199
• Down payment needed (%): 27%

• Typical home value: $958,266
• Down payment needed ($): $723,527
• Down payment needed (%): 75.5%

• Typical home value: $382,802
• Down payment needed ($): $181,195
• Down payment needed (%): 47.3%

• Typical home value: $595,649
• Down payment needed ($): $300,970
• Down payment needed (%): 50.5%

• Typical home value: $387,914
• Down payment needed ($): $100,641
• Down payment needed (%): 25.9%

• Typical home value: $253,559
• Down payment needed ($): $10,773
• Down payment needed (%): 4.2%

• Typical home value: $398,881
• Down payment needed ($): $192,533
• Down payment needed (%): 48.3%

• Typical home value: $386,371
• Down payment needed ($): $149,041
• Down payment needed (%): 38.6%

• Typical home value: $289,511
• Down payment needed ($): $92,158
• Down payment needed (%): 31.8%

• Typical home value: $556,385
• Down payment needed ($): $296,427
• Down payment needed (%): 53.3%

• Typical home value: $586,875
• Down payment needed ($): $337,769
• Down payment needed (%): 57.6%

• Typical home value: $217,285
• Down payment needed ($): $0
• Down payment needed (%): 0%

• Typical home value: $287,721
• Down payment needed ($): $59,573
• Down payment needed (%): 20.7%

• Typical home value: $466,628
• Down payment needed ($): $209,333
• Down payment needed (%): 44.9%

• Typical home value: $427,509
• Down payment needed ($): $198,306
• Down payment needed (%): 46.4%

• Typical home value: $307,032
• Down payment needed ($): $76,273
• Down payment needed (%): 24.8%

• Typical home value: $315,438
• Down payment needed ($): $84,215
• Down payment needed (%): 26.7%

• Typical home value: $282,396
• Down payment needed ($): $27,570
• Down payment needed (%): 9.8%

• Typical home value: $230,536
• Down payment needed ($): $31,551
• Down payment needed (%): 13.7%

• Typical home value: $1,631,252
• Down payment needed ($): $1,320,275
• Down payment needed (%): 80.9%

• Typical home value: $446,180
• Down payment needed ($): $203,325
• Down payment needed (%): 45.6%

• Typical home value: $351,095
• Down payment needed ($): $112,962
• Down payment needed (%): 32.2%

• Typical home value: $481,911
• Down payment needed ($): $257,453
• Down payment needed (%): 53.4%

• Typical home value: $361,796
• Down payment needed ($): $116,974
• Down payment needed (%): 32.3%

• Typical home value: $348,439
• Down payment needed ($): $348,439
• Down payment needed (%): 39.3%

• Typical home value: $235,815
• Down payment needed ($): $31,331
• Down payment needed (%): 13.3%

• Typical home value: $449,514
• Down payment needed ($): $152,410
• Down payment needed (%): 33.9%

• Typical home value: $242,519
• Down payment needed ($): $30,852
• Down payment needed (%): 12.7%

• Typical home value: $372,080
• Down payment needed ($): $105,228
• Down payment needed (%): 28.3%

• Typical home value: $258,557
• Down payment needed ($): $46,869
• Down payment needed (%): 18.1%

• Typical home value: $241,940
• Down payment needed ($): $46,138
• Down payment needed (%): 19.1%

• Typical home value: $549,373
• Down payment needed ($): $251,131
• Down payment needed (%): 45.7%

• Typical home value: $362,763
• Down payment needed ($): $129,585
• Down payment needed (%): 35.7%

• Typical home value: $255,033
• Down payment needed ($): $19,406
• Down payment needed (%): 7.6%

Data is sourced from Zillow and is accurate as of June 20, 2024.