The U.S. Census Bureau released new American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year estimates showing that the median monthly costs for homeowners with a mortgage rose to $2,035 in 2024, up from $1,960 in 2023 after adjusting for inflation.
“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 increase in owner costs from 2023 to 2024 was 3.8%, higher than the previous year’s increase of 3.0%. The rise was mainly due to higher mortgage and insurance expenses.
Homeowners with mortgages in California ($3,001), Hawaii ($2,937), New Jersey ($2,797), Massachusetts ($2,755), and the District of Columbia ($3,181) faced the highest median monthly costs.
About 59.7% of owned homes had a monthly mortgage payment in 2024. The number of homes owned free and clear increased by about 900,000 from the previous year to reach roughly 35 million nationwide.
Vermont (8.9%) and New Mexico (8.7%) saw two of the largest increases in homes owned without mortgages between 2023 and 2024.
Around one-quarter of homeowners paid condo or homeowners’ association (HOA) fees in 2024; this affected about 21.6 million out of approximately 86.6 million owner-occupied households nationally. The overall median fee was $135 per month but differed depending on whether there was a mortgage: $120 for those with a mortgage and $184 for those without.
States varied widely in HOA or condo fee participation: Nevada (51%), Florida (44%), and Arizona (45%) had some of the highest shares of owners paying these fees while Rhode Island (10%), South Dakota (10%), Wisconsin (10%), Maine (8%), and North Dakota (8%) had among the lowest proportions.
Further details about HOA and condo fees can be found at Nearly a Quarter of Homeowners Paid Condo or HOA Fees in 2024 America Counts story: https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2025/09/nearly-quarter-homeowners-paid-condo-or-hoa-fees-in-2024.html
Renter households also experienced cost increases; median gross rent rose by 2.7% from $1,448 in 2023 to $1,487 in 2024 after inflation adjustment. Despite this increase, renters continued to spend a median share of their income—31%—on rent as they did last year.
Delaware, Mississippi, Idaho, Vermont and Alabama recorded some of the largest percentage-point jumps—at least six-and-a-half percent—in median gross rent between years.
More information about renter costs is available at Housing Costs: 2024 infographic: https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/visualizations/2025/demo/p60-285/acs-housing-costs.pdf
Median household income grew after inflation adjustment in twenty-nine states compared to last year; twenty-one states plus D.C., and Puerto Rico showed no significant change. Massachusetts, New Jersey and Maryland had among the highest state-level incomes; D.C.’s figure was highest nationally at $109,707 while Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and West Virginia were among those with lowest incomes reported.
Income inequality as measured by the Gini index increased only in North Carolina but decreased across nine other states including Georgia and Iowa between survey years.
Poverty rates dropped significantly between years in thirteen states plus Puerto Rico; only North Dakota and D.C saw an increase while thirty-six states remained unchanged statistically. State poverty rates ranged from just over seven percent up to nearly nineteen percent for calendar year data reported here.
Three major metropolitan areas—Atlanta GA., Riverside-San Bernardino CA., Tampa FL.—showed significant declines in local poverty rates over this period as well.
Health insurance coverage trends showed an uptick in uninsured rates across eighteen states plus D.C.; two states saw improvement instead.
For adults aged nineteen through sixty-four specifically there were increases noted across seventeen states plus D.C., while three others improved.
Among children under nineteen years old uninsured rates went up across nineteen states but fell slightly elsewhere according to ACS findings for this reporting cycle.
All statistics are available via data.census.gov https://data.census.gov/.
Additional context is provided through user notes https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/news/user-notes.html#par_textimage_12_9_r284 as well as blog explanations such as Understanding the 2024 American Community Survey1-Year Estimates Random Samplings post.
The Census Bureau will release more ACS statistics later this year including supplemental one-year estimates along with five-year summary figures covering periods through calendar end-2024.
