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Less Than 40% of U.S. Households Can Afford a Starter Home, LendingTree Finds

7/1/2026

households have the income to purchase an entry-level home, according to a new study from LendingTree.

The typical non-homeowner household earns roughly $7,000 less per year than the threshold required to qualify for a starter home, the study found — a shortfall that keeps the bottom rung of the property ladder out of reach for most renters.

The Income Gap Anchoring Renters in Place The $7,000 annual earnings gap identified by LendingTree is not a rounding error — it is a structural dislocation between where most non-homeowner incomes sit and where entry-level affordability begins.

For a household already stretched by rent, that deficit does not close easily.

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