New report ranks Whatcom County as one of least affordable areas in the country
The Bellingham/Whatcom County area ranks as the ninth-least affordable midsized city for homebuyers in the country, according to an AdvisorSmith study released Tuesday, July 7.
With a weighted home price of $410,613 and median household income of $62,268, the report gave the Bellingham metro area a price-to-income ratio of 6.6.
The study factored in average home price data from Zillow, household configurations and household income data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the report said. Using this data, the report created price-to-income ratios for 507 cities to determine their affordability.
With this ratio, Bellingham is the 24th-least affordable city overall, well ahead of Seattle, with a ratio of 5.9, that ranked as the 33rd-least affordable city. Seattle also ranked as the seventh-least affordable large city.
The study defined midsized areas as those with populations between 150,000 and 500,000. Small cities have less than 150,000 and large cities have more than 500,000, according to the report. Whatcom County’s population is about 229,000, according to the most recent estimate from the US Census Bureau.
Among Washington cities, only Bellingham made it into the top 10 least-affordable midsized cities. Oak Harbor, Washington, ranked in as the eighth-least affordable small-sized city with a price-to-income ratio of 6.7.
The study ranked Santa Cruz, California, as the least affordable midsized city with a price-to-income ratio of 9.6. San Francisco ranked as the least affordable large city with a 9.7 price-to-income ratio. California cities made up half of the top 10 least-affordable midsized range and seven of the large cities.
No Washington city made it into the top 10 most affordable cities for homebuyers, according to the report.
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