Macon Reporter

Decatur ranked eighth in the nation in a survey of the most affordable cities to buy a home as another Illinois city, Peoria, ranked sixth.

The survey conducted by Refi.org, found that only Youngstown, Ohio; Jackson, Mississippi; Flint and Detroit, Michigan; and Gary, Indiana were more affordable than Peoria. Lawton, Oklahoma was right after Peoria on the list at number seven, followed by Decatur.

Other Illinois cities making the list included Joliet at 13th, Rockford at 21st, at Springfield 29th and Bloomington 34th. Overall, the state of Illinois is ranked as the fifth most affordable state in which to buy a home, trailing only Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma and Michigan. Hawaii was the most expensive.

The rankings were calculated by taking the median annual income of residents as a percentage of home prices. In Decatur, median income is about 55.4% of the cost of an average house compared to 63.9 percent for Peoria. In Youngstown and Jackson, a median income is actually more than what it would take to buy a house, the survey found.

By comparison, in Newport Beach, California, the least affordable city in the study, median income is only 5% of the cost of a house.

“We found that the most affordable housing markets in America were uniformly located in the South and Midwest,” Refi.org said. 

With offices closed nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic and mortgage rates at record lows, homeowners are on the move, the group said.

“If you are tired of living in a place where home ownership is out of reach because of high prices compared to incomes, where else should you consider living?” the group asked.

One factor that is not included in the study is property taxes.

Illinois has among the highest property taxes in the nation, which can affect home affordability,” Center Square Illinois reported.