How the numbers work

Property tax: a historical effective rate.

Effective rate = ACS median annual real-estate taxes paid ÷ ACS median owner-occupied home value. Annual estimate = entered home value × that ratio; monthly budget = annual estimate ÷ 12.

The medians come from separate ACS tables, B25103 and B25077, for the 2020–2024 five-year survey. A ratio of medians is not a median of household ratios. It is not a statutory levy, a new-buyer assessment, or a parcel quote. Missing, suppressed, and open-ended medians are excluded from calculations and indexing. An open-ended survey interval provides a bound rather than an exact median.

The separate statutory scenario uses max(0, market value × assessment ratio − qualifying assessed-value exemption) × entered mills ÷ 1,000. Apply an exemption only to its eligible levy. We do not subtract a homestead exemption from a historical effective rate that already reflects taxes actually paid.

County ranks run from highest to lowest among usable counties in the same state. National rankings cover usable observations within the 500 largest counties by reported population.

Rent: income first, expenses next.

Hourly income = wage × hours per week × paid weeks per year. The default 40-hour, 52-week schedule is editable. Monthly gross income = annual gross income ÷ 12. We show 30% and 40% housing allowances, then subtract your utility allowance to calculate rent alone.

The 50/30/20 comparison uses actual monthly take-home pay you enter: half goes to all necessities, with entered nonhousing needs and utilities subtracted to show remaining rent capacity. The site does not estimate payroll deductions. Negative rent capacity is displayed as zero.

ACS median gross rent includes contract rent and utilities. It describes existing renter households, not currently advertised apartments. Income needed at the 30% guideline = monthly gross rent × 12 ÷ 0.30.

HUD rents and income limits.

FY 2027 Fair Market Rents take effect October 1, 2026. They are bedroom-specific 40th-percentile gross-rent benchmarks for program administration. Payment standards and actual voucher eligibility may differ. Small Area FMRs describe approximate ZIP areas, with separate values by bedroom.

HUD FY 2026 assistance limits are the published household-size values, including the extremely low-income poverty-floor adjustments. We do not reconstruct them as simple percentages of median family income. When a county contains distinct HUD areas, you must select the relevant area; the site does not average them.

Mortgage AMI is a separate FHFA-derived county dataset published by Freddie Mac. The 80% benchmark is shown separately from HUD household-size limits. HomeReady and Home Possible eligibility also depends on the property and program rules; use the linked official lookup before a loan decision.

Closing costs: rules plus your quotes.

Transfer-tax models follow cited state or local rules, with explicit scope, thresholds, rounding units, and payer assumptions. Local deed taxes, mortgage taxes, or exemptions outside that scope are excluded unless entered. The contract may change who bears base deed tax; statutory buyer and seller surcharges keep their separate payer.

Origination, appraisal, title, settlement, recording, prepaids, commission, and miscellaneous fees start with editable planning allowances. They are not reported state averages, official premium schedules, or lender quotes. A 5% commission is an assumption you can replace with negotiated terms.

Assign the percentage-based title allowance to buyer, seller or both under your contract. Enter any additional buyer-paid lender coverage separately and avoid counting the same policy twice. Iowa pages identify the title-guaranty program. Recording guides identify county examples and older publications; confirm the actual instrument fee with the recording office.

Buyer cash to close = down payment + entered buyer fees and prepaids + allocated taxes. Seller net = sale price − seller fees and taxes − entered mortgage payoff. Seller credits, other liens, HOA costs, repairs, capital-gains taxes, and lender-specific adjustments are excluded.

Home values and appreciation.

The median home value is an ACS historical owner-occupied survey estimate. FHFA indexes measure nominal changes; they do not show the dollar price of a home. County annual indexes are developmental. City pages use the quarterly metropolitan area or division containing their county parts, following 2023 metropolitan boundaries. Places spanning multiple markets have a selection control; the initial market contains the largest reported population. When FHFA supplies no usable matching metro series, the page labels its state context.

Cumulative growth = ending index ÷ starting index − 1. CAGR = (ending index ÷ starting index)^1/years − 1. Quarterly comparisons use the same quarter 1, 5, or 10 years earlier. Compound-growth scenarios use starting amount × (1 + entered annual rate)^years.

The affordability calculator solves for purchase price using the entered debt budget, amortized mortgage payment, down payment, property-tax rate, and insurance. The initial 6.5% interest rate is an editable assumption, not a market quote. HOA costs, mortgage insurance, maintenance, and closing costs are excluded.

Geography and rounding.

County FIPS identifies counties and county equivalents. ZIP matches use 2020 Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas and land overlap; postal ZIPs and property addresses can cross boundaries. Connecticut ZIPs use the published 2022 town-to-ZCTA relationships, summed within the new planning regions. City-to-county matches use ACS 2024 county parts, ordered by each part’s population. All source matches remain available.

Same-value county comparisons use 2026 Census adjacency, including point contacts and boundaries in water. Up to four adjacent counties with usable tax medians are shown, ordered by population. Counties without published neighbors or usable medians receive no invented comparison.

Calculations retain full precision until results are rounded to cents. Displayed whole-dollar answers round independently, so adding rounded monthly figures can differ from the rounded annual total. Tables and percentages describe the cited dataset’s period, with revisions possible on refresh.