Pittsburgh Named Most Affordable City for Middle Class Homebuyers

According to realtor.com, Pittsburgh is the most affordable city for middle class homebuyers with gross incomes around $60,000. 

First, Realtor.com defined a "middle-income" family from the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data as having "a median household gross income of $61,372 per year" and rounded that down to $60,000 for simplicity's sake.

Next, it was calculated that homeowners should spend no more than 28% of annual income on housing, which amounts to $16,800 of annual housing costs on a $60,000 income. If homeowners had a 30-year mortgage with a 5% downpayment and 5% fixed-interest rate, and 0.5% in private mortgage insurance then they could comfortably afford a home priced up to $257,400.

Lastly, listings for the month of September were analyzed to find the greatest share of available housing that was at or below $257,400 in the United States' 50 largest metropolitan areas.

Pittsburgh topped the list, with the median list price of $179,100 and a 64.3% share of affordable homes. It was noted that Pittsburgh reinvented itself from a Rust Belt City into a bustling tech hub, with major tech and health care companies establishing offices in the region. 

Though Pittsburgh has grown and changed, the home prices have remained low. Many neighborhoods are seeing a resurgence in homebuyers' interest and are receiving investors' attention. 

To find out more and learn about the other nine cities that made the list, check out the full realtor.com article here.