Markets

Mapped: The Median Down Payment for a House, by U.S. State

Published

2 months ago

February 26, 2024

Julie R. Peasley

Creator Program Ambassador

Article/Editing:

Pallavi Rao

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

The Median Down Payment for a House, by U.S. State

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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 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.

Work From Home and U.S. Real Estate

The U.S. housing market has seen quite an upheaval in the last few years. Between December 2019 and November 2021, house prices rose nearly 24%, the fastest rate on record. Research found that areas that were more exposed to remote work experienced higher price growth.

Following the trend of skyrocketing house prices, the national average for down payments has also more than doubled from $13,250 in Q1 2020 to $31,500 in Q3, 2023, per earlier linked Bankrate data.

Rents have also climbed significantly, pricing many young adults out of moving out of their parents homes, which in turn has fueled luxury spending with more disposable income.

On the other hand, the commercial real estate market has struggled with falling demand and higher interest rates, putting downward pressure on prices in the sector.

This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.

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Economy

Economic Growth Forecasts for G7 and BRICS Countries in 2024

The IMF has released its economic growth forecasts for 2024. How do the G7 and BRICS countries compare?

Published

2 days ago

April 24, 2024

Niccolo Conte

Faded horizontal bar chart visualization of G7 and BRICS countries' real GDP growth forecasts for 2024.

G7 & BRICS Real GDP Growth Forecasts for 2024

The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) has released its real gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecasts for 2024, and while global growth is projected to stay steady at 3.2%, various major nations are seeing declining forecasts.

This chart visualizes the 2024 real GDP growth forecasts using data from the IMF’s 2024 World Economic Outlook for G7 and BRICS member nations along with Saudi Arabia, which is still considering an invitation to join the bloc.

Get the Key Insights of the IMF’s World Economic Outlook

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This visual is part of a special dispatch of the key takeaways exclusively for VC+ members.

Get the full dispatch of charts by signing up to VC+.

Mixed Economic Growth Prospects for Major Nations in 2024

Economic growth projections by the IMF for major nations are mixed, with the majority of G7 and BRICS countries forecasted to have slower growth in 2024 compared to 2023.

Only three BRICS-invited or member countries, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and South Africa, have higher projected real GDP growth rates in 2024 than last year.

Group	Country	Real GDP Growth (2023)	Real GDP Growth (2024P)
G7	🇺🇸 U.S.	2.5%	2.7%
G7	🇨🇦 Canada	1.1%	1.2%
G7	🇯🇵 Japan	1.9%	0.9%
G7	🇫🇷 France	0.9%	0.7%
G7	🇮🇹 Italy	0.9%	0.7%
G7	🇬🇧 UK	0.1%	0.5%
G7	🇩🇪 Germany	-0.3%	0.2%
BRICS	🇮🇳 India	7.8%	6.8%
BRICS	🇨🇳 China	5.2%	4.6%
BRICS	🇦🇪 UAE	3.4%	3.5%
BRICS	🇮🇷 Iran	4.7%	3.3%
BRICS	🇷🇺 Russia	3.6%	3.2%
BRICS	🇪🇬 Egypt	3.8%	3.0%
BRICS-invited	🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	-0.8%	2.6%
BRICS	🇧🇷 Brazil	2.9%	2.2%
BRICS	🇿🇦 South Africa	0.6%	0.9%
BRICS	🇪🇹 Ethiopia	7.2%	6.2%
	🌍 World	3.2%	3.2%

China and India are forecasted to maintain relatively high growth rates in 2024 at 4.6% and 6.8% respectively, but compared to the previous year, China is growing 0.6 percentage points slower while India is an entire percentage point slower.

On the other hand, four G7 nations are set to grow faster than last year, which includes Germany making its comeback from its negative real GDP growth of -0.3% in 2023.

Faster Growth for BRICS than G7 Nations

Despite mostly lower growth forecasts in 2024 compared to 2023, BRICS nations still have a significantly higher average growth forecast at 3.6% compared to the G7 average of 1%.

While the G7 countries’ combined GDP is around $15 trillion greater than the BRICS nations, with continued higher growth rates and the potential to add more members, BRICS looks likely to overtake the G7 in economic size within two decades.

BRICS Expansion Stutters Before October 2024 Summit

BRICS’ recent expansion has stuttered slightly, as Argentina’s newly-elected president Javier Milei declined its invitation and Saudi Arabia clarified that the country is still considering its invitation and has not joined BRICS yet.

Even with these initial growing pains, South Africa’s Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor told reporters in February that 34 different countries have submitted applications to join the growing BRICS bloc.

Any changes to the group are likely to be announced leading up to or at the 2024 BRICS summit which takes place October 22-24 in Kazan, Russia.