Affordability by Place and Race: Brookings Maps the Gaps Across States

Brookings’ States of Affordability introduces a county‑level cost‑of‑living measure and finds that 45.5% of US households could not make ends meet in 2024, with wide variation by state and race; the report shows wages haven’t kept pace with productivity, reveals persistent racial disparities, and estimates that raising wages by $10/hour or cutting costs by $500/month could bring millions more households into affordability, underscoring the need for tailored state policies as the series explores drivers of affordability.