The U.S. Census Bureau reported that the median monthly owner costs for homeowners with a mortgage rose to $2,035 in 2024, up from $1,960 in 2023 after adjusting for inflation. This information comes from the newly released American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year estimates.
Jacob Fabina, an economist at the Census Bureau, explained how housing affordability is measured: “One way we measure housing affordability is based on how much households spend on selected costs such as mortgage payments, insurance, taxes, utilities, and various fees,” said Fabina. “In 2024, the median percentage of income householders with a mortgage spent on these costs was 21.4%, which points to an increased burden on homeowners.”
The increase in owner costs between 2023 and 2024 was 3.8%, outpacing the previous year’s rise of 3.0%. The main drivers were higher mortgage payments and insurance fees.
States with the highest median monthly homeowner costs for those with a mortgage included California ($3,001), Hawaii ($2,937), New Jersey ($2,797), Massachusetts ($2,755), and the District of Columbia ($3,181).
About 59.7% of owned homes had a monthly mortgage payment in 2024. The number of homes owned outright—without any mortgage—also grew by approximately 900,000 over the past year to reach about 35 million nationwide.
Vermont (8.9%) and New Mexico (8.7%) saw some of the largest increases in homes owned free and clear between 2023 and 2024.
Homeowners’ association (HOA) or condo fees are another expense for many owners. In total, around 21.6 million households paid such fees in 2024 out of about 86.6 million owner-occupied homes nationally. The median fee was $135 per month overall; it was $120 among those with a mortgage and $184 among those without one.
There were regional differences in who pays HOA or condo fees: Nevada (51%), Florida (44%), and Arizona (45%) had some of the highest proportions of homeowners paying these charges; Rhode Island (10%), South Dakota (10%), Wisconsin (10%), Maine (8%), and North Dakota (8%) had some of the lowest shares.
Renters also faced rising expenses: Median gross rent increased by 2.7% from $1,448 in 2023 to $1,487 in 2024 when adjusted for inflation; however, renters continued to spend about the same share—31%—of their income on rent compared to last year.
Some states—including Delaware, Mississippi, Idaho, Vermont and Alabama—experienced notable increases in median gross rent.
Median household income rose after inflation adjustments in twenty-nine states since last year; no significant change occurred in twenty-one states plus D.C., while Massachusetts, New Jersey and Maryland had among the highest incomes nationally alongside D.C., which posted a median household income of $109,707—the highest nationwide.
Poverty rates declined in thirteen states and Puerto Rico but increased only in North Dakota and D.C.; most other states saw no significant change. State poverty rates ranged from just over seven percent to nearly nineteen percent during this period.
Three large metropolitan areas—Atlanta; Riverside-San Bernardino; Tampa—saw significant drops in their poverty rates between last year and this year.
Regarding health coverage trends: The uninsured rate went up across eighteen states plus D.C., while only two states recorded declines since last year; similar patterns held true among working-age adults as well as children under nineteen years old—with more places seeing rising rather than falling uninsured rates for both groups.
Full statistics can be accessed at data.census.gov.
“One way we measure housing affordability is based on how much households spend on selected costs such as mortgage payments, insurance, taxes, utilities, and various fees,” said Jacob Fabina, a Census Bureau economist. “In 2024, the median percentage of income householders with a mortgage spent on these costs was 21.4%, which points to an increased burden on homeowners.”
