Housing Affordability › Methodology
Housing Affordability Power Rankings — Methodology
Field: 100 metros. Accountable official: Mayor. Cadence: monthly. Data retrieved 2026-06-20.
Affordability uses the current Freddie Mac 30-year fixed rate (6.47% as of 6/18/2026).
Weights are public so the ranking cannot be called rigged. Each dimension is normalized 0–100 across all ranked metros (min–max; inverted where lower is better), multiplied by its weight, and summed to the 0–100 composite. A metric that is unavailable for an entity is never estimated — the remaining weights are rescaled and the composite flagged “partial.”
| Dimension | Source | Direction | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income needed to afford median home (at current rate) | Census B25077 + Freddie Mac PMMS (6.47%, 20% down, 30yr, 28% DTI) | Lower better ▼ | 25 |
| Price-to-income ratio | Census ACS (B25077 ÷ B19013) | Lower better ▼ | 20 |
| Median home price | Census ACS, B25077 | Lower better ▼ | 15 |
| Rent-to-income | Census ACS ((B25064×12) ÷ B19013) | Lower better ▼ | 15 |
| Monthly mortgage payment (median home) | Derived: median home, 20% down, 30yr @ PMMS | Lower better ▼ | 10 |
| Building permits per capita pending | Census Building Permits Survey file ingest pending | — | 10 |
| Months of inventory pending | Realtor.com feed pending | — | 5 |
Provenance
Primary source: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS) + Freddie Mac (PMMS) · https://api.census.gov/data/ ; https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms.