Montana Tops List of States Where Housing Is Least Affordable

It's expensive to own a home in Montana. Is anyone surprised by that statement? Living in Montana, we have seen the prices of homes skyrocket. Some areas have seen such huge price increases it's hard to comprehend. Bozeman, for example, has seen their median single-family home cost hit $810,000.

Read More: Montana News Roundup: Bozeman Home Prices Keep Climbing

There has been some good news for homebuyers in Montana. There have been a few places that have seen prices level off recently.

Read More: Missoula's Housing Market Showing First Stability in Years

Even though locations have seen some stability, it doesn't change that, overall, Montana is one of the most expensive places to purchase a home. Recently we looked at how much income it takes for someone to purchase a home in Montana compared to other states.

Read More: Montana Homes Now Cost More Than in Most of the West—Except Two States

Now it looks like not only is Montana one of the most expensive states for housing affordability, it is at the bottom of affordability making it the most expensive state.

Visual Capitalist has put together a map, using 2024 data from Realtor.com and found that Montana is the least affordable state when it comes to housing affordability, including Washington D.C.

What makes Montana rank so low on affordability is the 66% increase in housing prices over the past four years, compared with the 50% national average. Montana's wages haven't increased at the same level. There is also a shortage of affordable housing in Montana.

Similar past lists we have seen usually have West Virginia ranked as the most affordable state in the country and Hawaii as the most expensive. This list has Iowa as the most affordable state and even though Hawaii is low on affordability, it still ranks higher than Montana these days.

Montana's neighbor Idaho is also one of the most expensive states for home affordability ranking second-to-last.

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Home construction in Montana has been increasing trying to keep up with demand, but not all homes being built would be considered affordable. It may be a while before Montana drops down on this list and we start heading towards a more affordable ranking. Who knows if we will ever be ranked as one of the more affordable states ever again.