Becoming a homeowner in the Bay Area now requires making nearly three times the region’s median household income.
Home buyers had to make about $444,000 a year to afford a mid-priced home sold in the San Francisco metropolitan area in April, according to a new report from real estate brokerage Redfin. That number — based on the rule of thumb that households should not spend more than 30% of their income on housing — is up by 7% from April 2025, making it the highest among the most populous U.S. metro areas.
The analysis assumes a 15% down payment, which is about 10 percentage points lower than the typical down payment in the San Francisco metro area, Redfin’s data shows (though about a third of sales are in cash). That means the actual income needed for a mid-priced home could be lower — if a buyer can shell out a $428,000 payment on a $1.72 million home right out the gate.
Redfin also found that just 6% of listings in the San Francisco metro area, which the company defines as San Francisco and San Mateo counties, were affordable to a median-income household making $162,000 annually. Just 1 in 20 households in those counties have incomes of $444,000 or more, according to a Chronicle analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data, which is based on 2024 income statistics inflation-adjusted to 2026 dollars.
Buyers browsing listings in the San Jose metro area, which is made up of Santa Clara and San Benito counties, aren’t off the hook, either. A household would have to make about $426,000 to afford a mid-priced home there. But that’s nearly 6% down from the April 2025 estimate, as the South Bay’s housing market has cooled amid waves of tech layoffs.
Affordability improved in most other U.S. metros. The income required in the Oakland metro area, which is composed of Alameda and Contra Costa counties, had also declined by about 3% to $252,000. The Chicago area saw the minimum required income drop by 13% to just over $100,000.
Redfin said home prices are getting more affordable for middle-income households because mortgage rates declined from an average of 6.73% in April 2025 to 6.33% in April 2026. Household incomes also grew slightly.
But average rates are now back up to above 6.5%, and home prices are climbing — especially in San Francisco, where the artificial intelligence boom has brought a surge of bidders back to the market. The Iran War, and its effect on oil prices, could also dampen consumer sentiment, according to Redfin.