Comparing Median Incomes And Home Values Across America

Regular readers know I’m always on the hunt for great mapping tools that show various aspects of finance in a geographic way.  I even have an entire page dedicated to geoarbitrage resources and tools to help you find a better place to live based on any number of factors related to money or quality of life.  

I post annually about the median household income in America when the data come out in the fall.  If you want to geek out further I have a post highlighting a more detailed tool that shows the highest median household income in your area by age group.  And I’ve posted about the income gap to affordable housing, and the state of housing.

Bottom line – how much you make and how much a house costs are probably the two main factors that rise to the top in choosing a place to live.  Not every time, but on average I’d say they’re near the top in most circumstances.

This cool new mapping site from my friends at ESRI conflates those two very important factors – median household income and median home value.

 

The Map

When you open the map you should see this. (*Note – ESRI makes more sophisticated mapping sites that aren’t always optimized for phones. I highly suggest using this site on a full computer or at least a tablet.)

 

It may appear their data is aggregated at only a very large county level but they have incorporated scale-dependent views (I’m using dorky cartographer terms here).  If you zoom in to an area of interest you’ll notice the data are actually pretty detailed. 

I live near Washington D.C., and here’s what that looks like.

 

Under the “Content” tab on the left you’ll notice they have the data aggregated at 5 different levels:

• Country
• State
• County
• Zip Code
• Tract
• Block Group

The “Country” and “State” layers have no data and are useless at that scale anyway, it’s the others that have the real data of interest.  “Tract” is a Census Tract, and “Block” is a sub-division of Census Tracts at a finer level.  If you’re interested at all in these you can read how they delineate them here.

Just leave all the layers checked on because they are all “scale dependent”, meaning the best layer will display depending on how far you zoom in. 

 

All Those Colors

The key to using this map is to understand the color coding scheme.  Click the “Legend” tab on the left and you will see this:

 

In typical ESRI fashion they got cartographically creative with their legend display.  It may look confusing but it’s actually simple.  On the color diamond, colors more to the left indicate higher median house values, but lower median incomes.  Colors to the right indicate higher median household incomes and lower median home values.  Colors toward the top are high in both, and of course colors on the bottom are low in both. 

So, if I were moving to another part of the country, were still working, and wanted to buy a house and settle down, what would I look for?  Well, I’d want an area with higher median household incomes, but lower median home values.  In short, a place where I would tend to earn more but where homes are cheaper. 

On the map legend those areas are on the right side, the three shades of blue.  The cyan-colored blue on the far right might just be the sweet spot.  But if you start fishing around you’ll notice those areas are hard to find, surprise surprise! 

Because when folks earn more they naturally drive home values up, thats how markets work.  But those places are out there.  Having grown up in Baltimore I’m very familiar with Southern Pennsylvania, and I figured there would be some near Harrisburg, the PA capitol.  Housing is notoriously cheap in some areas of PA.  I was correct! 

Here’s an area south of Harrisburg that has quite a few of those Census Tracts:

 

Also notice that you can click on an area and you’ll get a simple pop-up showing the median home value and median household income. 

In the case shown above the median household income is $82,417 – well above the U.S. median of $63,000, and the median home value is $191,423.  That’s a pretty reasonable home price if you’re making 82 grand.  I live in an area with virtually no homes priced below $400,000, so the thought of being able to buy a home for $191,000 doesn’t make sense to me, and actually makes my head explode.

 

Geoarbitrage

So there you have it financial warriors, a great tool that shows two huge factors in deciding where to live – how much you can make and how much a home costs.  

I post lots of tools like this that show various aspects of money and finance from a location perspective.  If you’re considering Geoarbitrage in the United States this mapping tool can help you gauge income levels by age to help tune you in on trends and areas you might not be aware of. 

Also be sure to check out my Geoarbitrage Resources Page that has tons of great tools to help you find your perfect location.

I hope you find these resources handy and I will continue to expose valuable tools that can help when deciding on a geoarbitrage strategy.