Housing costs are placing the greatest strain on buyers in California and New York, home to many of the least affordable counties in the U.S., according to the latest data from ATTOM, a provider of property data and real estate analytics.
Among the 25 counties where major monthly home expenses took up the largest share of residents’ wages, 14 were in California, four in New York, three in New Jersey, and two in Hawaii.
“Affordability pressures are most acute in coastal markets like California and New York, where in some counties the cost of homeownership now exceeds or nearly consumes a full year of typical wages,” Rob Barber, CEO of ATTOM, tells Realtor.com. “That kind of imbalance is increasingly leaving many would-be buyers effectively priced out of the market.”
Kings County, NY, topped the list of the least affordable markets, where home costs consumed 108.6% of typical wages, followed by Santa Cruz County, CA (97.1%), Marin County, CA (91.1%), San Luis Obispo County, CA (89.7%), and Orange County, CA (88.1%).
Median listing prices are $799,000 in Kings County, $1,192,000 in Santa Cruz County, $1,352,000 in Marin County, $1,099,995 in San Luis Obispo County, and $1,375,000 in Orange County.
“Persistent supply constraints continue to drive valuations across California and New York City–adjacent counties,” says Anthony Smith, senior economist at Realtor.com. “Years of underbuilding, coupled with concentrated demand from high-output sectors like tech, finance, and health care, have created a structural supply-demand imbalance that keeps price points elevated and out of reach for many buyers.”
In these markets, many buyers are getting creative. Marta Maletz of Gambino Group at Compass in Kings County tells Realtor.com, “I recently sold a home in Brooklyn to three couples who teamed up to buy it as a co-living space. Each couple has a private suite, and they share all common areas, such as the kitchen and living spaces. That kind of collaboration is becoming a real path forward for buyers priced out of the market.”
Aside from Kings County and Orange County, the least affordable counties with populations over 1 million were Queens County, NY (75.3% of wages), Nassau County, NY (72.1%), and Los Angeles County, CA (66%).
Median listing prices are $619,500 in Queens County, $922,500 in Nassau County, and $969,000 in Los Angeles County.
“Los Angeles remains one of the least affordable housing markets in the country because demand continues to outpace supply, particularly in prime neighborhoods and coastal enclaves,” Cory Weiss of Douglas Elliman in Beverly Hills tells Realtor.com. “Strict zoning, limited new inventory, and strong global interest all contribute to pricing pressure at nearly every tier of the market.”
Affordability challenges
ATTOM defines affordability as the amount of income needed to cover major monthly homeownership costs on a median-priced single-family home or condo, assuming a 20% down payment and a 28% front-end debt-to-income ratio. That required income is then measured against annualized average weekly wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
According to ATTOM, a buyer in the first quarter of 2026 would have had to earn $84,230 annually to afford a nationally medium-priced home and keep major monthly expenses below the 28% of wages threshold.
But in the priciest counties, the income needed was dramatically higher.
The steepest income requirements to remain below the 28% threshold were in New York County, NY ($383,532), followed by San Mateo County, CA ($350,392), Santa Clara County, CA ($342,800), San Francisco County, CA ($307,860), and Marin County, CA ($307,681).
Median listing prices are $1,495,000 in New York County, $1,499,719 in San Mateo County, $1,399,450 in Santa Clara County, $1,130,000 in San Francisco County, and $1,352,000 in Marin County.
“I have buyers who face affordability challenges, and it is often around their debt-to-income ratios,” Nikki Beauchamp, an associate broker with Sotheby’s International Realty in New York City, tells Realtor.com. “Some buyers may have help from parents and family.”
That same affordability strain is playing out on the West Coast as well.
Alexander Kalla, a real estate agent in Santa Clara County, tells Realtor.com the area is so expensive because a deep pool of high-earning tech buyers is all competing over a very limited number of homes.
“We have classic supply-and-demand imbalance: Inventory is still well below normal, and many existing owners are locked into ultralow [COVID-19] pandemic-era mortgage rates, so they simply don’t list unless they have to,” he says.
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