The Nabelly Affordability Index 2026
Ranking 30 mid-size U.S. cities by the share of median household income required to live comfortably.
- 01Lakeland, FL and Huntsville, AL are the only two cities where a single median earner can cover the comfortable basket alone without dipping into the savings line.
- 02Boise's affordability score has fallen 28 points since 2020 — the steepest decline in the sample.
- 03Pittsburgh remains the most affordable Northeastern city by a wide margin, scoring 12 points above the next contender.
- 04Six cities (Fort Collins, Asheville, Bend, Boise, Bozeman, Charleston) now require ≥ 1.4 median incomes to clear the basket comfortably.
Methodology
We defined a 'comfortable' household budget as housing (rent or PITI on the median home with 10% down), food at home, transportation (one car + insurance + fuel at local prices), healthcare premiums for a 2-adult household, childcare for one child, utilities, and a 10% savings line. We then divided that monthly figure by the local median household income from ACS 2024 5-year, adjusted to 2026 dollars with CPI-U. A city scores 100 when 50% of median income covers the basket; scores fall as the required share rises.
Why affordability rankings keep getting it wrong
Most affordability indexes published by realtor associations and chambers of commerce compare median home price to median income and call it a day. That ratio tells you very little about whether a working family can actually live in a city — it ignores property taxes (which vary 4x across our sample), insurance (Florida and coastal Carolina premiums have doubled since 2022), childcare (now the second-largest line item for families with kids under 5), and the local cost of running a car.
When we recalculated using a full household basket, the rankings shifted dramatically. Cities that look 'affordable' on a price-to-income basis — like Boise or Charleston — fall out of the top 10 because their insurance, tax, and transportation costs eat the apparent housing advantage. Cities that look mid-pack on price-to-income — like Pittsburgh and Cincinnati — rise because their full cost of living is genuinely low.
The index, ranked
The top five most affordable cities in our 30-city sample are Lakeland (FL), Huntsville (AL), Pittsburgh (PA), Wichita (KS), and Cincinnati (OH). All five share three traits: home prices well below the national median, property taxes under 1.2% of assessed value, and labor markets diverse enough to keep wages above the cost of staying.
At the other end, Boise, Bend, Bozeman, Fort Collins, and Asheville now require more than 140% of local median income to fund our comfortable basket. These are cities where remote-work in-migration since 2020 pushed home prices up 50–80% while local wages grew 15–25%. The gap has not closed.
What the index does not capture
Affordability is necessary but not sufficient. A city can be cheap and bad — declining job market, failing schools, brain drain. We publish the affordability index alongside our overall city scores precisely so readers can weigh cost against opportunity. Lakeland is affordable AND has a healthy labor market; that combination is rare and is the reason it tops both lists.
We will update this index quarterly as new Redfin and BLS data publishes. The next refresh ships in August 2026.
Limitations
What this analysis cannot tell you. We publish limitations because no study is complete without them.
- Median household income masks distribution — a city with strong tech wages can post a healthy median while service workers struggle.
- Our basket assumes one car. Cities with usable transit (Pittsburgh, Minneapolis) are penalized slightly relative to lived experience.
- Childcare cost data is sparse below the MSA level; we use county averages where city data is unavailable.
- Rentcast and Redfin medians lag the market by 30–60 days; spring 2026 turbulence may not be fully reflected.