Homebuyers need to earn an annual income of $74,508 to afford the median-priced home in rural counties. That’s up 105.8 percent from before the pandemic, when rural buyers needed to earn $36,206, according to a report from Redfin.
By comparison, the income needed to afford a home in suburban counties has risen 90.9 percent (to $102,120 from $53,482), and the income needed to afford a home in urban counties has climbed 87.5 percent (to $118,300 from $63,103). Rural America has been hit by a one-two punch of rising home prices and lagging incomes, and as a result has seen housing affordability erode faster than big cities and suburbs, according to Redfin’s report.
This is based on a Redfin analysis that compares the third quarter of 2025 with the third quarter of 2019. Redfin considers a home affordable if a buyer taking out a mortgage spends no more than 30 percent of their income on their monthly housing payment. The analysis uses MLS median home sale price data, prevailing mortgage rates and property-tax payments, and U.S. Census Bureau data on incomes.
Homebuyers in rural areas have faced relatively large jumps in home prices, which is one reason affordability has eroded, according to Redfin’s report. The median sale price in rural counties is $280,900, up 60.5 percent from $175,000 before the pandemic. By comparison, suburban counties have seen a 48.9 percent increase (to $385,000 from $258,500) and urban counties have experienced a 46.2 percent gain (to $446,000 from $305,000).
Income growth also hasn’t kept up, according to Redfin. The median household income in rural counties is $69,307, up 33.3 percent from $52,002 before the pandemic. By comparison, suburban counties have seen a 36.8 percent gain (to $88,627 from $64,782) and urban counties have seen a 39.3 percent gain (to $89,784 from $64,468).
Big cities fell out of favor during the pandemic, when scores of Americans moved to rural and suburban areas in search of space, privacy and access to nature, according to Redfin. Some were seeking a lower cost of living, while others were buying up pricey vacation homes in places like Lake Tahoe. Record-low mortgage rates and remote work were the forces that empowered millions to relocate. The pandemic homebuying frenzy that swept through rural and suburban areas sent home prices soaring, leaving many communities grappling with an affordability crisis that persists today. Rural areas often only have a handful of homes for sale, meaning homebuyers frequently compete with one another, which is a factor that drives up prices.
“During the pandemic, many buyers came to New Hampshire from out of state — places like New York, Texas, California and Seattle. They often had larger budgets than locals and were able to pay above the asking price, which helped them win bidding wars and purchase properties in the Lakes Region,” New Hampshire-based Redfin Premier real estate agent Julia Martinage said in a release. “A lot of those people are now moving back to where they came from and being replaced by locals or people from border states like Massachusetts. I’m seeing a lot of young couples and families moving to rural areas from cities like Nashua and Manchester. They want land, chickens, quiet—a better quality of life.”
While rural areas have seen the fastest uptick in home prices in recent years, they remain affordable compared to many suburban and urban areas — one reason people continue to move to rural America, according to Redfin.
A household on the median income in rural counties would need to spend 32.3 percent of their earnings on housing to buy the median-priced home. While that’s up from 20.9 percent before the pandemic, it remains lower than the share in suburban and urban areas. In suburban counties, a household on the median income would need to spend 34.6 percent of their income to buy the typical home, and in urban counties, it would need to spend 39.5 percent.
“Rural America isn’t as affordable as it once was, but the silver lining is that unlike many urban areas, there’s still room to build homes,” Redfin Senior Economist Asad Khan said in a release. “Adding more housing can ease the affordability crunch and also make room for more people, which can boost local economies.”
Governments in some states are actively seeking to combat the rural housing shortage through building. New York, for example, invested $50 million in a program that will build manufactured housing, which is typically cheaper and quicker to construct.
Homebuyers need to earn an annual income of $119,361 to afford the median-priced home in rural New Hampshire. That’s up 141.4 percent from before the pandemic—a bigger increase than rural areas in any other state Redfin analyzed. It’s followed by neighboring Vermont and Maine, which saw respective increases of 139.2 percent and 137.3 percent.
These states top the list because they’ve seen the largest increases in home prices. The median rural home sale price in New Hampshire is up 88.3 percent from before the pandemic — a bigger increase than any other state Redfin analyzed. Next came Vermont and Maine, with respective increases of 86.6 percent and 85.1 percent.