{"id":66173,"date":"2019-06-03T16:06:47","date_gmt":"2019-06-03T23:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redfindevelop.wpengine.com\/blog\/?p=65881"},"modified":"2020-10-06T12:58:36","modified_gmt":"2020-10-06T19:58:36","slug":"most-affordable-cities-for-construction-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.redfin.com\/news\/most-affordable-cities-for-construction-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Louis, Chicago and Cleveland Are the Most Affordable Areas for Construction Workers to Buy Homes"},"content":{"rendered":"

But the people who build homes can\u2019t afford to buy them in the California metros that need new housing the most.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

St. Louis<\/span><\/a> is the most affordable place for a construction worker to buy a home, with 67.3 percent of homes for sale affordable on the median personal income for construction workers in the area, the highest share of any U.S. metro. It\u2019s followed by two Midwestern neighbors, <\/span>Cleveland<\/span><\/a> (64.7%) and <\/span>Chicago<\/span><\/a> (62.5%). Those metros are also relatively affordable for the population as a whole: In all three places, more than half of homes for sale are affordable on the area\u2019s median household incomes. <\/span><\/p>\n

At the other end of the spectrum, a typical construction worker would find it near impossible to find a home they could afford to buy in any major California metro. In <\/span>San Jose<\/span><\/a>, almost none of the homes for sale\u2014just 0.1 percent\u2014are affordable on a local construction worker\u2019s median income, making it the least affordable metro for construction workers, followed by <\/span>San Diego<\/span><\/a> (1.5%) and <\/span>San Francisco<\/span><\/a> (1.8%). The fact that less than 20 percent of homes for sale in each California metro covered by this analysis (<\/span>Los Angeles<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Sacramento<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Riverside<\/span><\/a>, in addition to those already listed) are affordable for construction workers is representative of the larger housing crisis in the entire state.<\/span><\/p>\n

Partly due to a lack of inventory, median sale prices in many parts of the state are sky high, clocking in at more than $1 million in San Jose and San Francisco. The catch-22 is that the people who build homes can\u2019t afford to live where housing supply is needed most.<\/span><\/p>\n

For a more complete picture of housing affordability for construction workers throughout California and the U.S., the Redfin dashboard below ranks metro areas from most to least affordable for people in the occupation:<\/span><\/p>\n