Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared on Construction Coverage.
Elevated home prices and an inadequate homebuilding pace are making it difficult for construction workers to afford to purchase a home in the cities where they work.
Compounding the issue, wages for construction workers have not kept pace with recent inflation. At the same time, the housing market has become significantly more unaffordable over the past four years.
Inflated home prices in many cities mean that the workers who build homes often cannot afford to buy them.
To find where construction workers struggle the most to afford homes, researchers at Construction Coverage conducted an analysis using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Zillow, and the U.S. Census Bureau. For more information, see the methodology section at the end.
Here are the most unaffordable major metro areas for construction workers.
15. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
- Weekly hours needed to afford a median-priced home: 75
- Median hourly wage: $37.70
- Median home price: $706,039
- Monthly mortgage payment for a median-priced home: $3,656
- Overall homeownership rate: 61.5%
14. Raleigh-Cary, NC
- Weekly hours needed to afford a median-priced home: 76
- Median hourly wage: $23.64
- Median home price: $448,653
- Monthly mortgage payment for a median-priced home: $2,323
- Overall homeownership rate: 67.8%
13. Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA
- Weekly hours needed to afford a median-priced home: 76
- Median hourly wage: $30.90
- Median home price: $585,948
- Monthly mortgage payment for a median-priced home: $3,034
- Overall homeownership rate: 62.8%
12. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA
- Weekly hours needed to afford a median-priced home: 76
- Median hourly wage: $34.87
- Median home price: $668,361
- Monthly mortgage payment for a median-priced home: $3,461
- Overall homeownership rate: 51.7%
11. Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX
- Weekly hours needed to afford a median-priced home: 80
- Median hourly wage: $23.15
- Median home price: $466,103
- Monthly mortgage payment for a median-priced home: $2,414
- Overall homeownership rate: 58.8%
10. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
- Weekly hours needed to afford a median-priced home: 80
- Median hourly wage: $28.20
- Median home price: $569,099
- Monthly mortgage payment for a median-priced home: $2,947
- Overall homeownership rate: 63.9%
9. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
- Weekly hours needed to afford a median-priced home: 80
- Median hourly wage: $29.36
- Median home price: $586,146
- Monthly mortgage payment for a median-priced home: $3,035
- Overall homeownership rate: 65.8%
8. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
- Weekly hours needed to afford a median-priced home: 81
- Median hourly wage: $36.63
- Median home price: $748,591
- Monthly mortgage payment for a median-priced home: $3,876
- Overall homeownership rate: 59.8%
7. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO
- Weekly hours needed to afford a median-priced home: 82
- Median hourly wage: $28.88
- Median home price: $592,720
- Monthly mortgage payment for a median-priced home: $3,069
- Overall homeownership rate: 64.5%
6. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL
- Weekly hours needed to afford a median-priced home: 83
- Median hourly wage: $23.64
- Median home price: $490,171
- Monthly mortgage payment for a median-priced home: $2,538
- Overall homeownership rate: 59.9%
5. Salt Lake City, UT
- Weekly hours needed to afford a median-priced home: 84
- Median hourly wage: $26.17
- Median home price: $548,835
- Monthly mortgage payment for a median-priced home: $2,842
- Overall homeownership rate: 67.6%
4. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Weekly hours needed to afford a median-priced home: 125
- Median hourly wage: $30.76
- Median home price: $966,786
- Monthly mortgage payment for a median-priced home: $5,006
- Overall homeownership rate: 47.9%
3. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
- Weekly hours needed to afford a median-priced home: 126
- Median hourly wage: $30.37
- Median home price: $957,582
- Monthly mortgage payment for a median-priced home: $4,959
- Overall homeownership rate: 54.5%
2. San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA
- Weekly hours needed to afford a median-priced home: 126
- Median hourly wage: $37.43
- Median home price: $1,180,321
- Monthly mortgage payment for a median-priced home: $6,112
- Overall homeownership rate: 56.2%
1. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
- Weekly hours needed to afford a median-priced home: 175
- Median hourly wage: $37.05
- Median home price: $1,624,016
- Monthly mortgage payment for a median-priced home: $8,409
- Overall homeownership rate: 54.9%
Methodology
To find the metropolitan areas where construction workers would have to work the longest hours to afford a home in their city, researchers at Construction Coverage analyzed the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2023 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2022 American Community Survey, and Zillow’s Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI) data, a measure of typical home value.
The researchers ranked locations according to the number of weekly work hours needed for a construction worker earning the median hourly wage to afford a median-priced home in their location.
For the purposes of this analysis, it was assumed that construction workers do not spend more than 30% of their wages on their monthly mortgage payment. The mortgage payment for a median-priced home was calculated assuming a 30-year fixed rate mortgage, a 20% down payment, and a 6.73% interest rate — the U.S. average as of August 2024.
The researchers also calculated the median-priced home was calculated using Zillow’s ZHVI value from June 2024. In the event of a tie, the location with the larger median hourly wage for construction workers was ranked higher.
