02/29/2024
These Are The Median Down-Payments For A House In Each US State
TUESDAY, FEB 27, 2024
Since housing costs vary across U.S. states, so too does the income required to buy a house and the down payment associated with the purchase.
But how much does the median value change per state?
Creator Julie Peasley, via Visual Capitalist, maps the median down payment on a single-family home by U.S. state, using data from Realtor.com, accessed through Bankrate, a publisher and rate comparison service focused on the banking industry.
Importantly, a “single-family home” is legally defined as a “structure used as a single-dwelling unit,” which includes:
No common walls
Built on its own parcel of land
Private entrance/exit
One set of utilities
Single kitchen
This means actual house square footage will vary within and across the states, affecting the median prices and down payments in this data.
The Data: Median Down Payments by State
The top three priciest places for down payments are tied for number one: Washington D.C., Florida, and Hawaii, at a whopping $98,670.
Rank U.S. State Median Down Payment Average Down
Payment Percentage
1 Florida $98,670 17.0%
2 Hawaii $98,670 17.0%
3 Washington, D.C. $98,670 20.9%
4 Washington $86,752 28.6%
5 California $84,244 18.4%
6 Massachusetts $79,206 18.9%
7 Colorado $75,304 18.5%
8 Montana $72,833 21.0%
9 New Jersey $71,547 18.0%
10 New Hampshire $71,500 20.0%
11 Idaho $64,985 20.2%
12 Oregon $55,015 17.3%
13 New York $50,843 17.0%
14 Vermont $48,534 17.5%
15 Connecticut $47,342 18.6%
16 Rhode Island $45,285 16.6%
17 Utah $43,488 16.4%
18 Delaware $40,412 17.0%
19 Minnesota $38,500 16.1%
20 South Dakota $37,630 16.8%
21 Georgia $35,572 15.9%
22 Arizona $34,072 15.4%
23 Nevada $33,306 15.0%
24 Wyoming $32,389 16.0%
25 North Carolina $31,867 14.5%
26 Virginia $29,704 13.5%
27 Nebraska $29,617 15.4%
28 Wisconsin $28,333 15.0%
29 Illinois $27,348 14.3%
30 Iowa $26,461 15.5%
31 Tennessee $25,969 14.6%
32 Maryland $25,723 11.9%
33 Pennsylvania $25,402 13.8%
34 North Dakota $24,543 15.0%
35 South Carolina $24,357 15.1%
36 Michigan $23,153 14.2%
37 Alaska $21,354 12.2%
38 Texas $18,780 12.2%
39 Kansas $18,325 13.1%
40 Missouri $17,832 12.9%
41 New Mexico $17,576 12.6%
42 Kentucky $17,548 13.4%
43 Maine $17,548 16.0%
44 Indiana $17,477 12.6%
45 Ohio $15,044 12.3%
46 Oklahoma $13,177 12.3%
47 Arkansas $11,996 11.8%
48 Alabama $8,788 10.7%
49 West Virginia $6,611 9.2%
50 Louisiana $6,470 9.2%
51 Mississippi $5,814 9.3%
N/A National $31,500 15.0%
Note: Current as of Q3, 2023.
Ranked 4th and 5th are Washington State and California, requiring median down payments in the mid-$80,000s.
Unsurprisingly the median down payment patterns follow how expensive housing is in that particular state, which in itself is a reflection of jobs, income, population, amenities, and the desirability of the location. By looking at the median, it also cuts out the “high end” that would skew the average (mean) payment higher.
At the bottom of the list, Alabama, West Virginia, Louisiana, and Mississippi all average less than $10,000 in median down payments.
However, looking at the percentage of the total value put down as a down payment in those states (10%) indicates homebuyers there tend to have longer repayment plans. This is in contrast to the median down payment in Washington, which is close to one-third of the total house value.
