06/23/2026
Congratulations to INDIANA, ranked #1 for Affordability & Homebuilding. "Indiana's permit-to-population ratio of 1.02 is reflecting building activity roughly proportional to its population. Indiana separates itself is on the affordability side: The state’s median-priced home of $295,810 requires just 28.3% of the median household income of $71,469, comfortably below the 30% threshold that is commonly used to define affordability. Its REALTORS® Affordability Score of 0.89 is among the highest in the country. Combined with a moderate new-construction premium of 40.5%, Indiana delivers the kind of well-rounded performance that this report is designed to reward."
States have a clear mandate to address housing affordability, so we are assigning grades based on how they are doing now and how well they are addressing the future, by building affordable homes. Data now updated for 2026.