Homebuyers need to earn 80% more than 2020, per Zillow. Median income has risen 23% in that time.

The claim that homebuyers need to earn 80% more than in 2020 to afford a home is consistently supported across all seven sources, including Zillow's own research and reputable financial news outlets such as Yahoo Finance, Business Insider, and Fox Business. These sources cite Zillow data showing the income needed to comfortably afford a median-priced home has increased from around $59,000 in early 2020 to over $106,000 by early 2024, an increase of roughly 80%.

Concurrently, these sources report that median household income has only risen about 23% over the same timeframe. This disparity highlights the growing affordability gap in the housing market.

The data is recent (mostly from early 2024 reports) and consistent across independent outlets referencing Zillow's primary data, lending high confidence to the accuracy of these figures.

The increase in required income is attributed primarily to rising home prices (up approximately 42%) combined with higher mortgage rates and borrowing costs, which together have significantly increased monthly housing expenses beyond what income growth alone can cover.

While exact figures vary slightly by source due to rounding or reporting date differences, the core claim of an ~80% increase in required income versus a ~23% rise in median income is well substantiated.