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- The average mortgage payment is $2,064 for a 30-year fixed mortgage and $3,059 for a 15-year fixed mortgage.
- However, a more accurate measure of what the typical American spends on their mortgage each month would be a median: $1,609 in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
- When you buy a home, the mortgage isn’t the only thing you’ll be paying. Monthly cost also includes insurance, property taxes, utilities and HOA fees where applicable.
According to Insider’s calculations using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Freddie Mac and the National Association of Realtors, the average mortgage payment is $2,064 on a 30-year fixed mortgage and $3,059 on a 15 – year fixed mortgage. You can see the full methodology at the end of this post.
However, an average, which can be skewed by payments that are atypically low or high, is probably not the most accurate representation of what the typical US homeowner actually pays. A better measure of this is the median, which represents the middle number in a data set.
The average monthly cost of owning a home in the US is $1,609 per month, according to the latest data from the Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey. This cost includes not only the monthly mortgage payment, but also other necessary expenses , such as insurance, HOA fees and property taxes.
Below, we’ve broken down the averages by state, city and year.
Mortgage payments by state
While some states have relatively low home values, homes in states like California, Hawaii, and New Jersey have much higher housing costs, which means people pay more for their mortgage each month. Additionally, mortgage rates vary by state.
Data from the 2019 American Community Survey shows that homeowners paid an average of $1,609 per month. This number includes a mortgage payment, as well as insurance costs, property taxes, utilities and HOA fees where applicable.
Here’s how all 50 US states stack up:
Mortgage payments by city
Especially in coastal cities where space is at a premium, the monthly home payment can be much higher than the national average or median payment. According to US Census Bureau data from the 2019 American Community Survey, the median monthly home payment (including utilities, insurance and HOA fees) was over $2,600 per month in Los Angeles and over $2,800 per month in the New York area.
However, not all metro areas are so expensive—in Phoenix, Arizona, the average home payment is about $1,500 a month, and about $1,800 a month in Dallas. See how the most populous metro areas stack up in monthly cost of living according to Census Bureau data. Cities are listed by size.
Mortgage payments per year
The median cost of home ownership has been increasing year over year since 2010. However, the average monthly take-home pay has only increased by $113 per month from 2010 to 2019.
Here’s how costs have changed over the past eight years, according to data from the American Community Survey.
Expenses included in a monthly mortgage payment
In the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey data, the monthly mortgage payment includes things like insurance and taxes. In part, that’s because that’s how mortgages work — many times, you’re paying for more than the principal and interest on the loan in your monthly payment.
If your mortgage includes an escrow account, you’ll pay for two costs each month in your monthly mortgage payment:
- Property Taxes: You will pay tax on your home to the state and local government, if necessary. This cost is included in your monthly payment if your mortgage includes escrow.
- Home Security: To keep your home covered, you’ll need to purchase a homeowner’s insurance policy. The average cost of homeowners insurance is about $1,200 per year.
Your monthly mortgage payment will also be affected by how much money you borrow and what your lender charges you for that money. Here’s how these two factors can get you a higher or lower monthly payment:
- The amount of your down payment: Like many other types of loans, a mortgage requires a down payment. If you don’t have a 20% down payment on the home you’re buying, you’ll be adding private mortgage insurance, or PMI, to the cost of your monthly mortgage payment. The higher your down payment, the lower your mortgage will be each month.
- Your mortgage interest rates: The amount of interest you pay on your mortgage will affect how much you pay each month. Interest rates vary depending on your credit score, where you live and the type of loan you take out.
Another monthly cost to consider should be the amount you will need to save for repairs. Generally, the older your home is, the more you should have on hand for repairs. Utilities like internet, trash removal, and electricity will also add to your monthly home ownership costs.
Methodology: How we got our average number
To determine how much the average borrower pays for their mortgage each month, we used the median home sale price according to data from the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. In the first quarter of 2022, the median price was $507,800. We then took the standard 13% down payment (as reported by the National Association of Realtors) to determine an average loan size. Freddie Mac data was also used to find the average mortgage rates for 30-year and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages in the first quarter of 2022: 3.82% and 3.04%, respectively.
