25 Places in the US Where Only the Wealthy Can Afford a Home

The median price of a home in America is now around $415,000, which is nearly 10 times more expensive than 50 years prior. In fact, housing and mortgage rates are now so high that there are some cities in which only the wealthy can afford a home.

To determine which cities are so expensive that only the wealthy could achieve homeownership within them, GOBankingRates examined the 250 biggest housing markets in the country. Within that list, GOBankingRates then sourced home values and down payment/loan amounts and defined wealth as anything more than twice the median household income of $83,730.

From that metric, GOBankingRates found 25 American cities in which only the wealthy can afford the high mortgage rates there, and ordered them from most expensive to least expensive. Is your dream city on the list?

Also see how much a house cost the year you were born.

• August 2025 home value: $2,212,717
• Monthly mortgage: $11,003
• Annual mortgage: $132,037
• Income needed to afford mortgage: $471,561

• August 2025 home value: $1,827,128
• Monthly mortgage: $9,086
• Annual mortgage: $109,028
• Income needed to afford mortgage: $389,386

• August 2025 home value: $1,693,854
• Monthly mortgage: $8,423
• Annual mortgage: $101,076
• Income needed to afford mortgage: $360,984

• August 2025 home value: $1,575,014
• Monthly mortgage: $7,832
• Annual mortgage: $93,984
• Income needed to afford mortgage: $335,657

• August 2025 home value: $1,481,955
• Monthly mortgage: $7,369
• Annual mortgage: $88,431
• Income needed to afford mortgage: $315,825

• August 2025 home value: $1,385,173
• Monthly mortgage: $6,888
• Annual mortgage: $82,656
• Income needed to afford mortgage: $295,200

• August 2025 home value: $1,372,495
• Monthly mortgage: $6,825
• Annual mortgage: $81,899
• Income needed to afford mortgage: $292,498

• August 2025 home value: $1,326,259
• Monthly mortgage: $6,595
• Annual mortgage: $79,140
• Income needed to afford mortgage: $282,644

• August 2025 home value: $1,231,364
• Monthly mortgage: $6,123
• Annual mortgage: $73,478
• Income needed to afford mortgage: $262,421

• August 2025 home value: $1,118,448
• Monthly mortgage: $5,562
• Annual mortgage: $66,740
• Income needed to afford mortgage: $238,357

• August 2025 home value: $1,082,223
• Monthly mortgage: $5,382
• Annual mortgage: $64,578
• Income needed to afford mortgage: $230,637

• August 2025 home value: $1,001,465
• Monthly mortgage: $4,980
• Annual mortgage: $59,759
• Income needed to afford mortgage: $213,426

• August 2025 home value: $986,857
• Monthly mortgage: $4,907
• Annual mortgage: $58,888
• Income needed to afford mortgage: $210,313

• August 2025 home value: $950,198
• Monthly mortgage: $4,725
• Annual mortgage: $56,700
• Income needed to afford mortgage: $202,501

• August 2025 home value: $933,224
• Monthly mortgage: $4,641
• Annual mortgage: $55,687
• Income needed to afford mortgage: $198,883

• August 2025 home value: $923,123
• Monthly mortgage: $4,590
• Annual mortgage: $55,085
• Income needed to afford mortgage: 196,731

• August 2025 home value: $906,250
• Monthly mortgage: $4,506
• Annual mortgage: $54,078
• Income needed to afford mortgage: $193,135

• August 2025 home value: $889,089
• Monthly mortgage: $4,421
• Annual mortgage: $53,054
• Income needed to afford mortgage: $189,477

• August 2025 home value: $887,853
• Monthly mortgage: $4,415
• Annual mortgage: $52,980
• Income needed to afford mortgage: $189,214

• August 2025 home value: $878,862
• Monthly mortgage: $4,370
• Annual mortgage: $52,443
• Income needed to afford mortgage: $187,298

• August 2025 home value: $856,254
• Monthly mortgage: $4,258
• Annual mortgage: $51,094
• Income needed to afford mortgage: $182,480

• August 2025 home value: $853,668
• Monthly mortgage: $4,245
• Annual mortgage: $50,940
• Income needed to afford mortgage: $181,929

• August 2025 home value: $844,817
• Monthly mortgage: $4,201
• Annual mortgage: $50,412
• Income needed to afford mortgage: $180,042

• August 2025 home value: $836,186
• Monthly mortgage: $4,158
• Annual mortgage: $49,897
• Income needed to afford mortgage: $178,203

• August 2025 home value: $833,460
• Monthly mortgage: $4,145
• Annual mortgage: $49,734
• Income needed to afford mortgage: $177,622

Methodology: GOBankingRates defined wealthy as anything more than 2X the median household income ($83,730). GOBankingRates then found the August 2025 home value for each of the 250 cities, sourced from Zillow. GOBankingRates then found the 20% down payment and loan amount for each city. To find the mortgage payment, GOBankingRates assumed a 20% down payment with a 6.34% interest rate (via Freddie Mac). No property tax, HOA fees, or PMI was included in the monthly mortgage payments. GOBankingRates assumed no more than 28% of gross income spent on mortgage payments. All cities where the salary needed to afford the mortgage with the above specifications (above $167,460) were included in final rankings. All data was collected on Oct. 8, 2025.