US housing prices over time vs household income
Why buying a home feels harder: US median home prices against median household income since 1984.
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What the data shows
- Median home price: $80K in 1984, $415K in 2025 (5.2× higher). It peaked at $433K in 2022.
- Median household income: $22.4K in 1984, $87.5K in 2025 (3.9× higher).
About this chart
Both lines are in current dollars. Home prices have grown faster than incomes, with a sharp jump after 2020, which is why the price of a typical home now costs many more years of income than it did in the 1980s.
Home prices are the median sales price of new houses sold (Census Bureau and HUD); income is the median household income from the Census Bureau's annual survey.
The data
Source: FRED: median sales price of houses sold (MSPUS, Census/HUD), yearly average; median household income (MEHOINUSA646N, Census), current US$. Retrieved November 3, 2026.
| Date | Median home price | Median household income |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | $80K | $22.4K |
| 1985 | $84.3K | $23.6K |
| 1986 | $92K | $24.9K |
| 1987 | $105K | $26.1K |
| 1988 | $112K | $27.2K |
| 1989 | $120K | $28.9K |
| 1990 | $122K | $29.9K |
| 1991 | $120K | $30.1K |
| 1992 | $121K | $30.6K |
| 1993 | $127K | $31.2K |
| 1994 | $130K | $32.3K |
| 1995 | $133K | $34.1K |
| 1996 | $140K | $35.5K |
| 1997 | $145K | $37K |
| 1998 | $152K | $38.9K |
| 1999 | $160K | $40.7K |
| 2000 | $168K | $42K |
| 2001 | $173K | $42.2K |
| 2002 | $186K | $42.4K |
| 2003 | $192K | $43.3K |
| 2004 | $218K | $44.3K |
| 2005 | $237K | $46.3K |
| 2006 | $244K | $48.2K |
| 2007 | $245K | $50.2K |
| 2008 | $230K | $50.3K |
| 2009 | $216K | $49.8K |
| 2010 | $223K | $49.3K |
| 2011 | $225K | $50K |
| 2012 | $244K | $51K |
| 2013 | $266K | $53.6K |
| 2014 | $286K | $53.7K |
| 2015 | $294K | $56.5K |
| 2016 | $305K | $59K |
| 2017 | $322K | $61.1K |
| 2018 | $325K | $63.2K |
| 2019 | $320K | $68.7K |
| 2020 | $328K | $68K |
| 2021 | $383K | $70.8K |
| 2022 | $433K | $74.6K |
| 2023 | $427K | $80.6K |
| 2024 | $419K | $83.2K |
| 2025 | $415K | $87.5K |
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Suggested caption: “In 1984 a new home cost about 3.5 years of income. Now look.” Credit the source in your caption; it heads off the 'source?' comments.
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Frequently asked questions
Where does this data come from?
FRED: median sales price of houses sold (MSPUS, Census/HUD), yearly average; median household income (MEHOINUSA646N, Census), current US$. Retrieved November 3, 2026. You can download the full table as a CSV from this page.
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