Affordability varies widely across the Houston metropolitan area. But which ZIP codes are actually the most — and least — expensive for homeowners, based on their household incomes?
American Home Shield analyzed ZIP codes across the U.S. with more than 10,000 residents, using data from Zillow to determine each area’s home price-to-income ratio (calculated by dividing the median home value by the median household income).
The company found that the most affordable ZIP code in the country is in Flint, Michigan (48505) — the median home there costs only 95% of the median annual salary — while the least affordable is the 90210 ZIP code in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Beverly Hills. There, the median home costs nearly 35 times the typical worker’s annual wages.
The most affordable neighborhood in the Houston area is Kingwood (77345), where the median home costs 2.69 times the median annual salary and 88.6% of households own the home they live in.
Kingwood was followed by the Astrodome neighborhood (77054), with a home price-to-income ratio of 3.02; Clear Lake (77059), with a ratio of 3.10; Eldridge (77094), with a ratio of 3.13; Central Southwest (77045), with a ratio of 3.17; Clear Lake (77062), with a ratio of 3.18; Jersey Village (77041), with a ratio of 3.33; Harris County (77044), with a ratio of 3.37; Pearland (77089), with a ratio of 3.41; and Fort Bend County (77053), with a ratio of 3.52.
Conversely, the least affordable ZIP code in the Houston area is Hedwig Village/Piney Point (77024), where the median home, priced at $1.1 million, costs 8.98 times the median annual income of $133,979.
Hedwig Village was followed by Spring Branch East (77055), with a home price-to-income ratio of 8.66; River Oaks (77027), with a ratio of 7.76; Memorial Park (77079), with a ratio of 7.48; Acres Homes (77091), with a ratio of 7.27; Gulfton (77081), with a ratio of 6.48; Binz (77004), with a ratio of 6.41; Lawndale/East End (77023), with a ratio of 6.26; Neartown/Montrose (77006), with a ratio of 6.22; and Uptown (77056), with a ratio of 6.15.
Texas-wide, the most affordable ZIP is Borger (79007), with a home price-to-income ratio of 1.65, while the least affordable is Central Austin (78705), with a home price-to-income ratio of 19.06.