single buyers

These days it’s hard enough to afford a home with two incomes, let alone one. Yet, there are ten states – eight in the South – where it’s possible for a single earner to live comfortably on between $80,000 and $87,000 per year.

These days one-person households account for nearly 33% of all homes.

The list below includes the income needed for a single adult in 2025 as well as the median listing price for the ten states.

• West Virginia – income needed: $80,829; median listing price: $269,000
• Arkansas – income needed: $81,078; median listing price: $300,000
• South Dakota – income needed: $82,160; median listing price: $399,000
• North Dakota – income needed: $82,285; median listing price: $380,000
• Kentucky – income needed: $83,574; median listing price: $314,000
• Oklahoma – income needed: $84,282; median listing price: $306,900
• Ohio – income needed: $84,781; median listing price: $289,900
• Alabama – income needed: $85,280; median listing price: $340,000
• Louisiana – income needed: $85,322; median listing price: $285,000
• Mississippi – income needed: $86,320; median listing price: $295,680

A new study by Zillow reveals that it wold take the average single buyer almost 11 years to save the 20 percent down payment to buy a home. And that, of course, is conservative depending on where you want to love. Looking to live in San Jose? Then that might take you close to 30 years to save.

Of course, if couple are buying, the saving takes much less time – around five years, according to Zillow.

The majority of Americans consider buying a home to be an important part of the American Dream. But for single buyers that dream is increasingly getting harder and harder to realize.