If buying a home in New York is on your vision board, it unfortunately might stay there for a very long time. A new report from customer review and news platform ConsumerAffairs analyzed how long it takes the typical household in every state to save for a home, and New York landed among the worst in the nation.
According to the data, New York ranks No. 4 in the U.S. for the longest time it takes to save for a home, making the dream of homeownership feel especially out of reach for many New Yorkers.
New Yorkers Could Spend More Than 23 Years Saving For A 10% Downpayment
ConsumerAffairs calculated how long it would take the “typical” household in each state to save up a 10% down payment on a median-priced home, using what they call “fractional saving.” That means setting aside 10% of your remaining income after taxes and essential expenses like groceries, transportation, and health care.
In New York, that math adds up to a pretty brutal timeline:
- Median household income (NY) – around $85,000
- Estimated remaining income after taxes + essentials – roughly $24,800 per year
- Fractional saving – about $2,480 per year
- Median home sale price in NY – about $573,000
- Typical 10% down payment – around $57,300
At that pace, it would take about 23 years for the typical New York household to save just a 10% down payment. That’s more than two decades of penny pinching before you even get to closing costs, moving expenses, or the harsh reality of a monthly mortgage payment.
And remember, this is for a 10% down payment–not the traditional 20% number many buyers grew up hearing. The reason ConsumerAffairs chose 10% is because it’s closer to what many first-time buyers are actually doing.
With astronomical prices and living on an endless rise, a full 20% down payment has become unrealistic for many potential buyers, especially in high-cost states like New York. Many people are now putting closer to 6%-10% down.
The Midwest Is Speeding Ahead While New York Stalls
Part of what makes New York’s ranking so harsh is how much faster the path to homeownership is in other states. ConsumerAffairs found that:
- Iowa is the fastest state to save for a home, at just 8.7 years to reach a 10% down payment
- Ohio comes next, at 9.9 years, followed by Texas, Maryland, and North Dakota
- Every single Midwestern state ranks in the top 20 fastest places to save, and none of them require more than about 13 years of saving
New York, meanwhile, sits in the bottom 10 alongside California, Montana, Hawaii, Wyoming, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Oregon, Maine, and Colorado–states where high home prices and steeper living costs stretch the savings timeline far beyond the national median of 13 years and 7 months.
In other words: the “typical” New Yorker trying to buy a home is running a marathon.
Why It’s So Hard To Save For a Home in New York
The ConsumerAffairs analysis makes one thing clear: home prices are the main villain.
Yes, incomes in New York are higher than in many other states, but housing prices are on another level entirely. The median home price in the data set–around $573,000–means even a smaller 10% down payment is over $57,000.
That challenge is especially present in and around New York City, where:
- Prices in many NYC neighborhoods regularly climb well into the high six or seven figures
- Renters often spend a huge share of their income on housing already, leaving less room to save
- Everyday costs–everything from groceries to transit to child care–chip away at what little income is leftover
By the time taxes and essential expenses are deducted, the typical New York household simply doesn’t have much breathing room. Saving even 10% of what’s left becomes an uphill battle, especially when rent, utilities, and food keep getting more expensive.
New York Is a Tough Place To Buy–But Not an Impossible One
ConsumerAffairs’ ranking confirms what most New Yorkers already kinda knew: this is one of the hardest places in America to save for a home, with a timeline that can stretch multiple decades.
Still, the shift from a rigid 20% down rule to more flexible, realistic expectations means that homeownership in New York isn’t completely off the table.
It might just take patience, compromise…and more than a few years of saying no to that extra round of rooftop cocktails.
See the full study.