Pittsburghers spend less money on housing than all other cities in the Northeastern U.S., according to a new study, making it the least house-poor city in the region.
House poor is defined as “a homeowner or renter who spends so much on housing that they can’t afford much else,” according to insurance comparison company The Zebra, which conducted the study. Financial advisors recommend spending no more than 30% of your gross monthly income on housing expenses, they note.
“Because location plays such a big role in housing costs, we took a look at the numbers to see where homeowners are spending the most and least in housing costs by region,” reports The Zebra. “We compared the median home price, the median household income and the homeownership rates of the 100 most populous U.S. cities in our study.”
For Pittsburgh, the numbers are:
• $45,831 median household income
• $138,000 median home price
• $48% homeownership rate
Pittsburgh’s low housing prices and “thriving tech market” are cited as reasons for its high ranking.
Detroit and St. Paul have a similar homeownership rate of 47% and 50% respectively.
Buffalo, New York comes in second as the least house-poor city of the Northeast.
Newark, New York City and Boston were the most house-poor cities in the Northeast. Newark has a median household income of $35,181, and a median home price of $281,694.
And on the west coast, Los Angeles has a home ownership rate of 37% with a median home price of $634,000.
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