Reuters/Noah Berger
Even doctors are getting priced out of San Francisco's frenzied housing market, according to Trulia.Medical practitioners from anesthesiologists to surgeons occupy the top nine spots in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' ranking of the highest paying jobs in America. But by comparing doctors' annual median salary to the median house price in San Francisco, Trulia found that only 41.6% of homes are affordable.
That share jumps to 90.7% in Chicago, another major city where home prices are rising, but at a slower pace. In Dayton, Ohio, Doctors can afford 99.6% of the market.
A shortage of inventory and aggressive bidding wars are raising house prices at more than twice the rate of wage growth across the country, but especially in San Francisco.
Trulia also looked into affordability for lower-paying jobs. Restaurant workers, who have a median salary of $28,612, face the most difficulty: Trulia found that 0% of San Francisco houses are affordable. Teachers can confidently shop around in only 0.4% of the market with a median wage of $72,340, while first responders have access to 2.6% of the market.
Overall, Trulia found that most of the time, households with at least two working people have more access to the housing market than single-income households. The ratio of house prices to median income is one way to gauge housing affordability. Compared to other cities in the world like Hong Kong and Vancouver, San Francisco is actually a lot cheaper.