Saving to buy a home in Pennsylvania? Here’s how much down payment you need
If you’re planning to buy a home in Pennsylvania this year, you can expect to spend $23,817 more for a typical 20% down payment compared to a decade ago, according to one report.
In a July 6 report, “Where the Down Payment Burden Has Grown Most,” financial publication SmartAsset found Pennsylvania had the 35th-greatest increase in the change in time needed to save for a down payment from 2016 to 2026 at median household income, assuming a 10% savings rate.
A homebuyer must save $57,277.40 for a 20% down payment on a typical Pennsylvania home in 2026, according to SmartAsset’s report. In 2016, a down payment would run you $33,460.40.
That equates to 38 years of saving 10% of the annual income for someone making the commonwealth’s $7.25 minimum wage, which is the same as the federal minimum.
Saving 10% of a minimum wage income may not be possible for many, as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Living Wage calculator finds a Pennsylvania resident needs to make $23.32 per hour to afford basic necessities.
The cost of rent is also generally inaccessible to a single earner making minimum wage in Pennsylvania. The National Low Income Housing Coalition reports a Pennsylvania resident would need to work 127 hours per week to afford a modest one-bedroom rental home.
For those looking to buy a home in Pennsylvania at the commonwealth’s median annual household income of $81,796, it would take 7 years of saving 10% of your income to afford a 20% down payment – a 13-month increase compared to 10 years ago.
Pennsylvania has seen a 5.6% increase in home prices from May 2025 to May 2026, according to real estate company Redfin. The median home sale price in State College is $458,775 as of May, Redfin reports, and the city’s real estate market is considered “most competitive.”
SmartAsset reported the typical home value in Pennsylvania was $167,302 in April 2016, compared to $286,387 in April 2026.
Where has the down payment ‘burden’ increased the most?
Here’s how the top 10 states nationwide compared on the change in time needed to save for a home down payment from 2016 to 2026, according to SmartAsset:
- Idaho: 11.2 years to save for a 20% down payment on a typical home, saving 10% of the state’s median household income, representing an increase of 40 months
- Rhode Island: 11.5 years, with a 39-month increase
- New Hampshire: 9.7 years, with a 36-month increase
- Maine: 10.2 years, with a 34-month increase
- Utah: 10.6 years, with a 32-month increase
- Montana: 11.8 years, with a 32-month increase
- Washington: 11.5 years, with a 28-month increase
- New Jersey: 10.4 years, with a 27-month increase
- New York: 11.3 years, with a 27-month increase
- Massachusetts: 12 years, with a 27-month increase
