The 7 Most 'Affordable' Towns For Twin Cities Homebuyers

TWIN CITIES, MN — It's likely not news to you that single-family house prices in the Twin Cities are expensive, and finding one you can afford is like winning the lottery. People with household incomes less than $100,000 will find it especially challenging.

According to an analysis from the Star Tribune, there are only a handful of communities in the metro where houses are "affordable" to people with household incomes of $90,000.

"Affordable" was calculated by the Star Tribune "assuming a 6.6 percent interest rate on a 30-year mortgage, that the buyer would pay 10 percent of the total cost in a downpayment, that the buyer would not spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing, a property tax rate of 1.2 percent and a home-insurance rate of 0.05 percent."

Under those conditions, the seven most affordable communities in the metro area are:

• West St. Paul (Dakota County)
  • Zillow Typical Home Values: $295,287
• St. Paul (Ramsey County)
  • Zillow Typical Home Values: $277,076
• Mounds View (Ramsey County)
  • Zillow Typical Home Values: $319,506
• Lexington (Anoka County)
  • Typical Home Values: $299,584
• Columbia Heights (Hennepin County)
  • Zillow Typical Home Values: $280,063
• Brooklyn Center (Hennepin County)
  • Zillow Typical Home Values: $276,128
• Crystal (Hennepin County)
  • Zillow Typical Home Values: $294,423

On the other end of the spectrum, there are a handful of communities where an income well north of half a million is needed to afford a house.

Take Greenwood, a small community that borders Excelsior and sits on the lower portion of Lake Minnetonka, for example.

You need an annual salary of at least $630,000 to afford a house in Greenwood, according to the Star Tribune.

The total population of Greenwood is 726, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census. The median household income there is $197,000, which means current residents would likely get outbid on their own homes if they had to buy them now.