Online mortgage company HSH.com recently estimated the salaries needed to afford a house in 25 metropolitan areas across the United States. Because, the cost of real estate varies across cities and regions - you need to be making about four times as much money in San Diego as in Cincinnati to afford a house.
The map illustrates these differences. The wider the circle over a city, the more you need to make to afford a house there:
Here is a table of the 25 cities and the salary you need to earn to afford the median-priced house, from HSH.com's estimates:
Business Insider/Andy Kiersz, data from HSH.com