How Long Would It Take You To Save for a $500K Home in the South?

Purchasing a home for half a million dollars isn’t exactly easy in today’s housing market, but having a healthy savings can make it much, much easier. Specifically, having at least 20% ($100,000) set aside for a down payment can help secure your dream home. That said, do you know how long it would take to save up that amount of money in your state?

GOBankingRates recently researched the median incomes in every state in America, using information from the U.S. Census Bureau. With that information in hand, GOBankingRates then calculated a yearly savings amount of 20% of that income per state, while also factoring in a monthly mortgage range of $2,619. From those numbers, GOBankingRates was able to extrapolate how long it would take to you to save the $100,000 down payment needed to purchase a $500,000 dream home in every state in the Southern United States.

• Median income for single person: $34,564
• Yearly savings for 20% down payment: $5,670
• How many years to save up down payment: 17.6

• Median income for single person: $33,475
• Yearly savings for 20% down payment: $5,606
• How many years to save up down payment: 17.8

• Median income for single person: $49,822
• Yearly savings for 20% down payment: $8,054
• How many years to save up down payment: 12.4

• Median income for single person: $45,261
• Yearly savings for 20% down payment: $7,670
• How many years to save up down payment: 13.0

• Median income for single person: $45,785
• Yearly savings for 20% down payment: $7,390
• How many years to save up down payment: 13.5

• Median income for single person: $36,358
• Yearly savings for 20% down payment: $5,974
• How many years to save up down payment: 18.7

• Median income for single person: $34,604
• Yearly savings for 20% down payment: $5,810
• How many years to save up down payment: 17.2

• Median income for single person: $61,575
• Yearly savings for 20% down payment: $9,406
• How many years to save up down payment: 10.6

• Median income for single person: $30,138
• Yearly savings for 20% down payment: $5,128
• How many years to save up down payment: 19.5

• Median income for single person: $42,352
• Yearly savings for 20% down payment: $6,936
• How many years to save up down payment: 14.4

• Median income for single person: $38,142
• Yearly savings for 20% down payment: $6,285
• How many years to save up down payment: 15.9

• Median income for single person: $40,063
• Yearly savings for 20% down payment: $6,706
• How many years to save up down payment: 14.9

• Median income for single person: $40,831
• Yearly savings for 20% down payment: $6,958
• How many years to save up down payment: 14.4

• Median income for single person: $47,584
• Yearly savings for 20% down payment: $8,043
• How many years to save up down payment: 12.4

• Median income for single person: $54,765
• Yearly savings for 20% down payment: $8,721
• How many years to save up down payment: 11.5

• Median income for single person: $32,953
• Yearly savings for 20% down payment: $5,516
• How many years to save up down payment: 18.1

Methodology: For this piece, GOBankingRates first found median income for a single person (defined in the American Community Survey as “non-family households”) for each state, as sourced from the 2023 American Community Survey as conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. GOBankingRates then set the down payment at 20% and assumed a person would be following the 50/30/20 rule where 20% of post-tax income goes toward savings and debt repayment. GOBankingRates then calculated how long it would take a single person in each state following the 50/30/20 rule to save for the down payment ($100,000) on a $500,000 home. From there GOBankingRates also calculated the 30-year fixed mortgage on a $500,000 home, assuming no private mortgage insurance, no homeowner’s association fees and no property tax, with a rate of 6.84% as sourced from Freddie Mac. All data was collected on and is up to date as of June 12, 2025.