BROOKLYN, N.Y.–Where is the most expensive place to live in the U.S.?
A new analysis offers a Top 10 list of places most people can’t afford to purchase a home, with Brooklyn, N.Y. topping the list.
According to an analysis by real estate data company ATTOM Data Solutions, a person earning the average salary in Brooklyn cannot afford the average home there — even if he or she could spend his entire salary (and then some) on housing.
The second and third most unaffordable places in America are Santa Cruz, Calif., and Marin County, Calif., both of which have long been among the most expensive places to live, with the technology industry’s highly paid workforce one big reason.
According to Attom Data Solutions, the top 10 most expensive markets are:
- Brooklyn, N.Y.
- Santa Cruz, Calif.
- Marin, Calif.
- New York, N.Y.
- San Luis Obispo, Calif.
- San Francisco, Calif.
- Maui, Hawaii
- Napa, Calif.
- Queens, N.Y.
- Monterey, Calif.
The company said that roughly one in four markets are unaffordable, meaning that buying a median-priced home was less affordable in those places than the historically normal level for that county going back to the first quarter of 2005. Since 2012, home prices have increased 10 times faster than wages, Attom Data Solutions said.