This map shows the price-to-income ratio for every zip code in the US - how many years of median household income it would take to buy a typical home. The conventional lending threshold is 3x. Above 5x is considered severely unaffordable. Above 8–12x, purchasing on a single median income is effectively impossible.

What are these shapes? Each polygon is a ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) - the Census Bureau's geographic approximation of a USPS zip code. ZCTAs follow street centerlines and administrative boundaries, so they can look irregular, especially in dense urban areas. A large polygon in a rural area may represent fewer people than a tiny polygon in a city.

Home values: Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), March 2026. Reflects the middle tier (35th–65th percentile) of estimated home values, smoothed and seasonally adjusted. Not the same as median sale price.

Income: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (2019–2023), table B19013. Median household income is top-coded at $250,001 - ratios for very high-income ZCTAs may appear slightly elevated as a result.

Coverage: ~25,800 zip codes. Areas excluded either lack sufficient home sales for Zillow to model a value (typically rural or very sparse areas) or have suppressed Census income data (too few survey respondents).

Data attribution: Zillow Home Value Index data provided by Zillow, Inc. © Zillow, Inc. Use is subject to the Zillow Terms of Use. Income data: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates (2019–2023). Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line Shapefiles.

Full methodology and findings →