Zillow: Homebuyers need $173K a year to afford a home in Denver

Denver among top 10 most expensive places for homebuyers

DENVER (KDVR) — With the price of homes in Denver more than doubling over the last decade, a $100,000 salary doesn’t go as far as it used to.

In 2020, a $101,365 income was enough to comfortably own a home in Denver. But according to a recent report from Zillow, that number has since increased by 70.5%.

Today, homebuyers need to make $173,000 to afford a home in Denver, according to the Zillow report.

Mortgage payments rise sharply since January 2020

The report found monthly mortgage payments on typical Denver metro area homes have “risen sharply since January 2020.”

Assuming a 10% down payment, Zillow reports that mortgage payments have increased 85.5% over the last four years to $3,615 monthly.

A similar trend has been seen on a smaller scale across the U.S., with the average mortgage payment on a typical U.S. home nearly doubling since 2020.

Denver homeownership costs above US average

Homeowners across the U.S. need to make over $106,000 to comfortably own a home, according to Zillow. That is up 80% since January 2020, when a $59,000 household income was enough to comfortably own a home.

In January 2020, the U.S. median income was about $66,000, meaning more than half of American households could afford to buy a home. Now, a typical U.S. household earns an estimated $81,000 each year, well below the six-digit income necessary to own a home.

Meanwhile, Zillow estimates that a household must make $173,000 to afford a home in Denver.

The income necessary to own a home in Denver was comparable to that of Washington, D.C.; Portland, Oregon; Sacramento, California; and Riverside, California.

Wages are not keeping up

Numerous reports have found that wages across the U.S. are not keeping up with housing costs.

“Housing costs have soared over the past four years as drastic hikes in home prices, mortgage rates and rent growth far outpaced wage gains,” Zillow senior economist Orphe Divounguy said.

According to a recent report from the Common Sense Institute of Colorado, a think tank focused on free enterprise, homeowners in the Denver metro area needed to work about 114 hours to pay a mortgage in 2023, up 172.3% from the 42 hours required to pay a mortgage in 2013.

While the cost of owning a home in Denver has increased by 18% since 2022, the institute’s report found that wages have only increased by 6%.