San Francisco
- Median home price: $659,000
- Median income: $103,000
- % of homes that are affordable: 31.4%
It's not just in San Francisco where home buying is expensive, many of the surrounding cities and towns -- like Sausalito, Berkeley and Daly City -- are extremely pricey as well.
Buying a home here would be made even harder if it weren't for the size of residents' paychecks. San Francisco is one of only a handful of metro areas where the median household income exceeds six figures thanks, in part, to its thriving tech sector. The area continues to spawn innovative social media and app companies, with Twitter, Instagram and Yelp among the recent successes to call the city home.
Related: Tips for buying a house
Yet while the sky-high paychecks make it easier for some people to afford the multimillion dollar asking prices in San Francisco, it's a much harder proposition for others who are pulling in a more modest wage.
*The percentage of new and existing homes sold in that metro area that families earning the area's median income can afford based on standard mortgage underwriting criteria.
Partner OffersPaid Partner
Find Homes For SalePowered by Trulia
