12 US cities where even the highest earners can barely afford housing

Housing is the biggest recurring expense most Americans face.

In some expensive housing markets, it can still be a stretch for even the highest earners to comfortably afford a home, a new LendingTree report found.

In San Jose and San Francisco, typical workers in the highest-paying industries spend at least $200 more on housing costs than they should.

The highest-paid workers in 10 other metro areas have less than $800 a month left over after covering housing costs, assuming they own a median-priced home.

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Housing is the biggest recurring expense most Americans face.

According to a new report from LendingTree's chief economist Tendayi Kapfidze, working in a metro area's highest-paying industry can make it easier to afford a home in the median price range.

However, in a few more expensive real-estate markets, Kapfidze discovered, it can still be a stretch to comfortably afford housing despite a high salary.

In his analysis, Kapfidze defined “affordable” as spending no more than 28% of annual gross income on housing costs. By this measurement, workers in the highest-earning industries in San Jose and San Francisco struggle to afford median-priced homes, spending more than $200 a month on housing costs than they should.

While these Silicon Valley metros are the only places where the estimated monthly housing payment for a median-priced home exceeds affordability standards, several other cities come close. The monthly payment was calculated assuming a 20% down payment and mortgage with a 4.25% interest rate.

The highest-paid workers in 10 other metro areas have less than $800 a month left over after covering housing costs, assuming they own a median-priced home, according to the LendingTree report.

An important note: Income figures used in this analysis are from 2017 and represent the median salary of an individual working in that industry, not the total income of a household. A dual-income household could likely afford a higher monthly payment. You can find the full methodology here.

Below are the metro areas where typical workers in the highest-paid industries — most commonly legal, architecture and engineering, and computers and mathematics — have the narrowest margin between what they can comfortably afford and what they likely pay for a home.