Here’s How Much You Must Make To Afford a Home in the Midwest’s Best Cities

J. David Herman

Mon, Jul 21, 2025, 12:13 PM 5 min read

The Midwest boasts galore locales with precocious livability scores and comparatively low surviving costs compared to galore different parts of the U.S. The worth of single-family homes varies wide crossed the region, however.

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To supply a consciousness for however overmuch income is needed for homeownership successful the Midwest’s astir livable spots, GOBankingRates has analyzed information from AreaVibes, the U.S. Census, Sperling’s BestPlaces, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Zillow and the Federal Reserve. The bully quality for Midwesterners — and imaginable Midwesterners — is that each determination successful our apical 10 has a median household income that acold exceeds its mean yearly outgo of living.

Here’s the full database of the astir livable cities and the wage needed for homeownership, on with median household income and immoderate further accusation astir each location.

• Livability score: 91

• Salary needed (annual outgo of living): $47,500

• Median household income: $94,115

About 30 minutes northwest of Detroit by car, Farmington has astir 12,000 residents. The median worth of a single-family location successful Farmington is $322,000, and the mean owe is $1,900 a month.

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• Livability score: 92

• Salary needed (annual outgo of living): $46,013

• Median household income: $87,767

Rochester is located successful southeast Minnesota, astir 90 miles southeast of Minneapolis. Home to the celebrated Mayo Clinic, Rochester has a colonisation of astir 122,000. The mean monthly owe present comes successful conscionable shy of $2,000, and the median worth of single-family homes is $331,000.

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• Livability score: 92

• Salary needed (annual outgo of living): $61,980

• Median household income: $152,526

Bexley is 1 of respective suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, to marque this list. The median worth of a single-family location successful Bexley is $546,000. Around 13,500 radical reside here.

• Livability score: 92

• Salary needed (annual outgo of living): $47,905

• Median household income: $106,603

You’ll find Ankeny 12 miles northbound of Des Moines. With astir 70,000 residents, Ankeny is 1 of Iowa’s fastest-growing cities. The median worth of a single-family location successful Ankeny is $346,000.

• Livability score: 92

• Salary needed (annual outgo of living): $43,814

• Median household income: $86,630