San Jose has landed in the global spotlight for a distinction no city really wants. A new international ranking has crowned it the least affordable housing market on the planet, finding that even a dual-income couple earning the local average salary could only afford a bit more than half of a typical home here.
The ranking, part of Remitly’s “Planet Property” study, compared 151 cities using standard mortgage assumptions, income data, and local property prices. According to Remitly, a couple making the average local income of $86,605 could afford just 54.6% of the average San Jose home. California’s coastal heavyweights, including Los Angeles, San Diego, and Long Beach, also crowd the bottom of the affordability list.
Local Reaction: ‘It Matches What We See’
On the ground, the ranking did not shock people who work in housing every day. Local real estate agents and advocates said the chart simply confirms what their clients and neighbors already feel in their wallets.
“Because we have a shortage of housing for the number of people that are here, and then we have a large discrepancy of wages,” realtor Lynside Gridley told NBC Bay Area. Kelly Batson of United Way Bay Area added that “there’s just not enough affordable units,” echoing concerns the nonprofit has been raising in regional housing debates.
Building Pipeline Is Drying Up
Recent construction trends help explain why the squeeze keeps getting tighter. A San Jose Spotlight analysis found the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro issued about 68% fewer building permits in July 2025 than it did in July 2020, sharply shrinking the pipeline of new rentals and for-sale homes…