How much masses need to work to afford what is perhaps the most iconic aspect of the American dream — their own house — varies drastically from city to urban center and state to land . Just as veridical demesne values change with postal code codes , so , too , do income level . ( Not to mentiontax ratesand the price ofcommon goods . ) To see how come-at-able possess a home in different cities across the U.S. really is , the toll information siteHowMuch.netmapped how many hours someone earning the median income in the country ’s biggest cities would need to work just to pay off the average mortgage .

To crunch the numbers , the site used Census information to figure out the median hourly income for mass in the 98 biggest cites in the U.S. , based on the idea that everyone is ferment 40 hour a week . ( Which is n’t very realistic , but still provides a rough appraisal . ) Then , HowMuch.net used information from Zillow on the median trapping cost to calculate the median monthly mortgage cost in each of those city , calculate that people typically get a 30 - class mortgage .

Here ’s the partitioning for the country ’s most expensive metros :

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1.New York , New York : 113 hours2.Los Angeles , California : 112 hours3.Miami , Florida : 109 hours4.San Francisco , California : 107 hours5.Boston , Massachusetts : 95 hours6.Oakland , California : 83 hours7.Long Beach , California : 78 hours8.San Diego , California : 77 hours9.Santa Ana , California : 74 hours10.San Jose , California : 74 hours

California is just as expensive as you think it was , and that go for to more than just L.A. and Silicon Valley . Long Beach and Orange County ’s Santa Ana make the list , too , as does sunny San Diego . Those cities blench in compare to Miami and Boston , though . Someone living in Santa Ana would be capable to give the average mortgage working a full 35 few hr than someone in Miami — basically a whole workweek . Of course , that seems much less low-priced when you regard that someone in Memphis only has to work 18 hr to give their mortgage , about a twenty percent of what someone in San Jose does .

Obviously , there are aspects of this information that do n’t altogether becharm the reality on the ground . Many hoi polloi work more than 40 hours a week . interestingness ratescan varya lot found on reference score , when you guide out yourmortgage , and other factor . Many households have more than one source of income , and those incomes may not be equal , which switch the figures quite a bit . Most importantly , this only reflects the price ofhousing . While a mortgage defrayment is a immense clump of most people ’s expenses , this graphic does n’t reflect the cost of other necessities like food , indemnity , transportation , and all the other things we have to pay for to get by in any given month .

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So , before you plan your move to Memphis , bear in mind that these are just rough estimates . That say , if you do want to move to Memphis , we would n’t blame you .