15 of the Most Affordable Housing Markets in the Country

Interest rates have soared, and overall, home prices remain high. Despite this market turmoil, people still need homes, and the desire to own their own remains strong.

According to researchers at Yardi Matrix's StorageCafe service, these 15 markets of the nation's most affordable markets based on average annual income and median house price -- with an added twist. They also analyzed 58 groups of professions to see how many would enable workers to afford the average home in each of these markets.

The criteria included providing at least 30% of qualifying income to pay the average mortgage and being able to save enough over five years -- using no more than 20% of their salary -- to make a 20% down payment.

This data comes from analyses of data from Yardi Matrix, Zillow, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Toledo, Ohio, leads this list, with 51 of the 58 job categories studied providing the income to buy the average home here. The average price is about $156,242, and the average income is about $56,430 for the roughly 270,000 people in this Lake Erie port city on the Ohio-Michigan border. StorageCafe says it would take 2.8 years for the average wage earner to save up the 20% down payment here.

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This Keystone State metro area boasts a population of about 550,000 people, an average home price of $161,592, and a median income of $52,879. That would require 3.1 years of savings, on average, for a 20% down payment. StorageCafe says 49 of the 58 professions it analyzed provide the average salary needed to buy the typical home here.

With a population of about 148,000, Syracuse is the Empire State's fifth-largest city. However, it ranks third on this list of most affordable markets, with 46 of 58 professions paying enough to support a mortgage here. According to the researchers' data, the average home price is $181,854, and the average income is $64,613. That data also found that homeowners would need 2.8 years to save enough to generate a 20% down payment.

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In Dayton, professionals in 45 of the 58 professions studied -- as defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), we should add -- can afford the average home price of $177,546. And at an average income of $61,730, it would require 2.9 years of saving for a down payment. Dayton is about 50 miles north of Cincinnati and, along with being the home of the Wright Brothers, has a population of about $138,000 in the city itself and 814,000 in its metro area.

Pittsburgh now has about 303,000 residents and anchors a metro area of about 2.4 million. The Steel City has an average home price of $203,234 and an average worker income of $62,695. By StorageCafe's calculations, workers from 45 professions on the BLS list can afford to buy homes here and sock away the 20% needed, on average, for a down payment in 3.2 years.

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The Cleveland-Elyria, Ohio, metro numbers about 2.1 million people, has an average home price of $202,939, and pays an average income of $62,613. It will take 3.3 years to save for a down payment at those price and income levels, and 44 of the 58 BLS professions can carry that mortgage load.

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Just to the south of Cleveland is Akron, Ohio, once known as Rubber City because of its former prominence in the tire-making industry and as the hometown of the ubiquitous blimps. With a population of about 190,000 in a metro area of about 703,000, Akron has an average home price of $192,177. StorageCafe says the average income of $59,033 can typically generate a 20% down payment in 3.3 years, and 43 professions provide the pay to make that purchase.

Jackson is Mississippi's capital city and home to about 154,000 people, with a metro area of about 576,000. The average income here is $50,234, and the median home price is $172,692. Workers in 43 of the 58 professions analyzed can afford to buy the average home here after generating a 20% down payment over 3.4 years.

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McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas, is a metro area of about 800,000 people on the Mexico border at the southern tip of Texas. StorageCafe says workers in 43 of the 58 BLS professions can afford the average price of $154,410 for a home in this market, which produces an average income of $40,739 and requires 3.8 years, on average, to save the 20% down payment.

Rochester is the birthplace of such iconic companies as Kodak, Western Union, and many more. With a population of about 211,000 and a metro area of about one million people, 43 professions in Rochester pay workers enough -- an average of $63,115 -- to buy a home at the city's average price of $200,056. StorageCafe says 3.2 years would be needed at that salary level to save 20% for a down payment.

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With a population of about 400,000, Wichita is the largest city in Kansas and one of the first major hubs of aviation manufacturing, which continues to play a large role in the industry, from Cessna to Airbus. The average Wichita home is priced at $179,901. Of the 58 tracked professions, 43 allowed workers the means to afford that price, with an average income of $54,199, after taking 3.3 years to save a 20% down payment.

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Tulsa is an oil town known for art deco architecture and a diversified economy, with a population of about 413,000 and a metro of about one million residents. The average home price in Oklahoma's second-largest city is $193,006, StorageCafe says, and it would take an average of 3.4 years to raise the 20% down payment at the average income of $56,913. Workers in 42 of the 58 BLS-defined professions can swing that, StorageCafe's data says.

The Detroit-Warren-Dearborn market encompasses Motor City and some of the sprawling area's most prominent suburbs. The average home price in this city of about 4.4 million people is $227,222, with an average income of $66,446 that can support raising a down payment of 20% in 3.4 years. Forty-one of the 58 professions tracked by StorageCafe in this study pay enough to make that math work.

Memphis itself has about 633,000 residents and -- with a surrounding metro in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi -- constitutes a market of about 1.3 million people. FedEx is its largest employer, and its Mississippi River port helps cement the Home of the Blues' role as a major transportation hub. The average wage of $54,167 and home price of $210,187 works out to 3.9 years of saving for a 20% down payment and affordability for 41 of those 58 professions, StorageCafe reports.

The Sooner State's capital and largest city -- home to about 681,000 and a metro area of about 1.4 million more -- has an average home price of $199,193. Oklahoma City also is home to a major air force base and one of the nation's largest livestock markets and serves as the hub for a lot of oil industry activity. In 3.5 years, the average income here of $56,849 can raise the down payment for the average home price of $199,193. And StorageCafe says 41 of the 58 professions it analyzed using the federal data pay enough to make that happen.

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The researchers found that people in advertising, marketing, promotions, public relations, and sales jobs and those in management roles in operations specialties could afford to buy in 94 of our 100 largest metros, based on average salaries of about $150,000 nationwide.

Agricultural workers could only buy in one: Chattanooga, Tennessee. And food-processing and material-moving workers could swing the cost in only two: Toledo, Ohio, and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Of course, affordability is in the eye -- and the wallet -- of the beholder. Investors and people looking to buy a place to live will be watching for prices to fall, although rising interest rates will offset that effect to varying degrees in many markets. Nothing remains static in this turbulent market, but we hope this list helps inform your search.

Marc Rapport has positions in Western Union. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends FedEx, Zillow Group (A shares), and Zillow Group (C shares). The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.