Across all non-metro counties, a common set of factors make housing less affordable.

Read more about the variables that affect housing affordability.

Definitions and Data Sources

We define “housing affordability” as the share of earnings per job used to pay for monthly mortgages or rent. This measure captures the relationship between working residents’ income and housing.

“Wages” refers to monthly earnings per job, as provided by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (Regional Economic Accounts 2019).

Monthly mortgage and rent costs are from the U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019.

Patricia Hernandez

  patty@headwaterseconomics.org       406.599.7425

Patty Hernandez is co-founder and Executive Director of Headwaters Economics. Patty has 18 years of experience in researching economic development, building partnerships, and developing technology solutions to help communities plan and adapt to a changing world.