The 5 most expensive cities in America for buying a home
The median sale price for existing properties hit an all time high earlier this year

Prospective homeowners in the five most expensive towns in the United States need to earn at least $1 million annually to afford to buy property, according to a recent report released by GOBankingRates.
The analysis looked at the 50 wealthiest towns in the US and determined the minimum salary needed to own a home in each town, assuming that buyers were spending no more than the recommended 30% of their salaries on housing.
This report comes following a year in which many Americans continued to face obstacles in buying homes. In June 2024, the median sale price for existing properties hit an all-time high. At the same time, the average age of American homebuyers rose by six years — to a historic high of 56, according to the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) 2024 Profile of Homebuyers and Sellers.
“First-time buyers face high home prices, high mortgage interest rates and limited inventory, making them a decade older with significantly higher incomes than previous generations of buyers,” Jessica Lautz, NAR deputy chief economist and vice president of research, said in a statement.
Some experts anticipate that the housing market will remain skewed toward sellers in 2025, though many questions remain – particularly with the changing economic policies of a new presidential administration.
“Mortgage rates won’t fall enough [in 2025] to spur an increase in existing-home inventory, with most of the increase in inventory seen in the market coming from new construction,” said Greg McBride, CFA, Bankrate’s chief financial analyst, in a statement.
“Most areas will still lean toward a seller’s market due to limited inventory. However, those markets that have seen a surge in inventory will definitely be more of a buyer’s market and will be susceptible to price declines.”
Continue reading to see how much it costs to buy a home in the five most expensive markets in the United States.
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5. Hillsborough, California

Average household income: $539,950
2024 typical home value: $5,099,160
Salary needed to afford a house: $1,015,321
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4. Montecito, California

Average household income: $327,332
2024 typical home value: $5,423,239
Salary needed to afford a house: $1,079,851
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3. Los Altos Hills, California

Average household income: $460,098
2024 typical home value: $5,631,372
Salary needed to afford a house: $1,121,293
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2. Atherton, California

Average household income: $594,651
2024 typical home value: $7,424,850
Salary needed to afford a house: $1,478,402
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1. Palm Beach, Florida

Average household income: $365,991
2024 typical home value: $11,592,915
Salary needed to afford a house: $2,308,328