Cheap cities are vanishing. Blame years of underbuilding after the Great Financial Crisis, policy failures that made it almost impossible to build, and the pandemic. What used to be a California-only problem is no longer. The housing crisis is spreading.
The news outlet The Hustle analyzed data from the American Community Survey conducted by the Census Bureau for the 35 largest metropolitan areas in the country, those with populations of at least 2 million residents. It compared the median home values of every zip code to that metro’s area median income in 2022, the most recent year data is available. The Hustle found 50.4% of these metros’ zip codes had a median home value that was more than four times the metro area’s median household income. It defined those zip codes as “exclusive” because they exceed a traditional rule of thumb on housing affordability.
