Montana counties among those with strained home affordability
Dana Gentry
(States Newsroom) Residential properties in 99% of U.S. counties analyzed in a new report were less affordable in the last three quarters of 2025 than historical averages, going back to the pre-Great Recession days of 2005.
ATTOM, a real estate data analyst, found the median price of single-family homes and condos was less affordable in 586 of 594 counties with enough data to be included in the analysis.
In Missoula County, where the typical wage is $61,334, a buyer in the last quarter of 2025 would have had to spend 56.2% of their pay on home expenses. The median list price in the last quarter was more than $539,600.
In Bozeman, where the typical wage is $69,200, the same buyer would have to spend more than 57% of their pay. The median home price there was $607,300 in the last quarter.
ATTOM determined affordability by measuring annualized weekly wage data against the income needed to pay expenses for a median-priced home, (including mortgage, taxes, insurance, and association dues) assuming a 20% down payment and 28% debt-to-income ratio.
In 43% of the counties analyzed in the report, median home prices grew at a greater rate than wages. In Nevada, however, wages grew faster than home prices. In the last quarter of the year annualized wages grew by 4.4%, while home prices increased by .7%.
Purchasing a home last year was least affordable in Kings County, NY, where a buyer would have to spend 103.1% of wages on housing expenses, followed by Marin County, CA (97.3%); Santa Cruz County, CA (94.4%); Orange County, CA (90.3%); and Monterey County, CA (90.3%).
The national median price of a home in the second and third quarter was a record high $365,000. A buyer would have had to earn $86,374 to purchase a median-priced home and keep expenses below the standard recommended threshold of 28% of annual income, the report says.
“Over the past five years, home price growth has nearly doubled wage growth, meaning home buying power in 2026 will depend not only on whether prices level off or decline, but also on mortgage rates and broader economic conditions,” Rob Barber, CEO of ATTOM, said in a news release.
In the last five years, the median sales price of a home has increased by 54%, while wages are up 29%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, through the second quarter of last year.
In 74% of the counties analyzed, home expenses exceeded the standard threshold of no more than 28% of the average resident’s pay, making homeownership unaffordable. Those counties include large metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles, where home ownership eats up 67.5% of typical wages; Maricopa County, AZ (38.1%); San Diego (67.4%); Orange County (90.3%); and Miami-Dade County, FL (43.6% of wages).
In about 30% of the 594 counties analyzed, home purchase expenses in the fourth quarter exceeded 43% of the typical resident’s wages, which is considered seriously unaffordable.
The report assigns an affordability scale to each county. Those with scores under 100 are less affordable than historic averages.
That landed Clark County a 75 on the affordability scale for the quarter and an even more unaffordable 60 for the entire year.
Last year, the median price of homes in Clark County, according to the report, was $437,500 in the first quarter, topped out at $449,900 in the second quarter of 2025, and fell to $443,500 in the fourth quarter, ending the year up 1% from the last.
Washoe scored 80 on the affordability scale for the last quarter and 63 for the year.
In Washoe County, the median price was $539,000 in the first quarter, jumped to $555,000 in the second quarter, and ended the year at $553,209 – down 2% from 2024.