The U.S. Census Bureau released new data from the American Community Survey showing that the median monthly costs for homeowners with a mortgage increased to $2,035 in 2024, up from $1,960 (adjusted for inflation) in 2023. This marks a 3.8% rise over the previous year, compared to a 3.0% increase between 2022 and 2023.
“One way we measure housing affordability is based on how much households spend on selected costs such as mortgage payments, insurance, taxes, utilities, and various fees,” said Jacob Fabina, a Census Bureau economist. “In 2024, the median percentage of income householders with a mortgage spent on these costs was 21.4%, which points to an increased burden on homeowners.”
The report attributes most of the increase to higher mortgage payments and insurance fees. States with the highest median monthly owner costs include California ($3,001), Hawaii ($2,937), New Jersey ($2,797), Massachusetts ($2,755), and the District of Columbia ($3,181).
More than half (59.7%) of owned homes had a monthly mortgage payment in 2024. The number of homes owned free and clear rose by about 900,000 compared to last year—totaling approximately 35 million homes without mortgages in 2024 versus 34.1 million in 2023. Vermont (8.9%) and New Mexico (8.7%) saw two of the largest increases in homes owned outright.
About one-quarter of homeowners paid condo or homeowners’ association (HOA) fees in 2024—roughly 21.6 million out of around 86.6 million owned households nationwide. The national median fee was $135 per month but varied depending on whether there was an outstanding mortgage: those with mortgages paid a median fee of $120 while those without paid $184 monthly.
Geographically, Nevada (51%), Florida (44%), and Arizona (45%) had the highest proportions of homeowners paying HOA or condo fees; Rhode Island (10%), South Dakota (10%), Wisconsin (10%), Maine (8%), and North Dakota (8%) had among the lowest rates.
Rental housing costs also increased during this period; median gross rent—including utilities—rose by 2.7% from $1,448 in 2023 to $1,487 in 2024 according to ACS data available at https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/. However, renters’ median share of income spent on rent remained unchanged at 31%. Delaware, Mississippi, Idaho, Vermont and Alabama experienced some of the largest increases in gross rent.
Median household income rose in 29 states after adjusting for inflation while remaining statistically unchanged elsewhere—including Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia—with Massachusetts, New Jersey and Maryland having some of the highest incomes nationally alongside D.C., which reported a median household income of $109,707.
The Gini index—a measure of income inequality—increased only in North Carolina but declined across nine states including Georgia and Ohio between survey years.
Poverty rates dropped in thirteen states plus Puerto Rico but rose slightly only in North Dakota and D.C.; no significant change occurred elsewhere among states surveyed. In three major metropolitan areas—Atlanta; Riverside-San Bernardino; Tampa—the poverty rate also declined between survey periods.
Health insurance coverage shifted as well: uninsured rates grew in eighteen states plus D.C., decreased in two states for all ages; among working-age adults uninsured rates climbed across seventeen states plus D.C., dropping only in three; children’s uninsured rates rose across nineteen states but fell only once elsewhere.
All statistics released today can be accessed at https://data.census.gov/. Additional resources explaining these estimates are available through user notes and blogs such as Understanding the 2024 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates at https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/2025/09/understanding-acs-24-1yr.html.
Further releases from the Census Bureau will provide more detailed ACS statistics over coming months.
