American Community Survey Reports

U.S. Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

U S C E N S U S B U R E A U

Helping You Make Informed Decisions

Housing Costs for Homeowners 

With Mortgages: 2007 and 2008 

American Community Surveys

Introduction

This report is one of a series produced to 

highlight results from the 2008 American 

Community Survey (ACS), focusing on 

changes between the 2007 ACS and the 

2008 ACS. The report series is designed 

to cover a variety of economic topics, 

such as poverty, occupation, home 

values, and labor force participation. 

This series provides information about 

the changing economic characteristics 

of the nation and states, the District of 

Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The ACS also 

provides detailed estimates of demographic, social, economic, and housing 

characteristics for congressional districts, 

counties, places, and other localities 

every year. A description of the ACS is 

provided in the text box “What Is the 

American Community Survey?” 

This report presents data on median 

selected monthly housing costs for 

homeowners with mortgages at the 

national and state levels based on the 

2007 ACS and 2008 ACS. It also ranks 

the states by their 2008 median selected 

monthly housing costs for homeowners 

with mortgages.

The data contained in this report are 

based on ACS samples that were selected 

for interview in 2007 and 2008 and are 

estimates of the actual figures that could 

have been obtained by interviewing the 

entire population using the same methodology. All comparisons presented in 

this report have taken sampling error 

Issued September 2009

ACSBR/08-7

By 

What Is the American Mary B. Schwartz

Community Survey?

The American Community Survey (ACS) is 

a nationwide survey designed to provide 

communities with reliable and timely 

demographic, social, economic, and 

housing data every year. It has an annual 

sample size of about 3 million addresses 

across the United States and Puerto Rico 

and includes both housing units and 

group quarters. The ACS is conducted in 

every county throughout the nation and 

every municipio in Puerto Rico, where 

it is called the Puerto Rico Community 

Survey. 

Beginning in 2006, ACS data for 2005 

were released for geographic areas with 

populations of 65,000 and greater. In 

2008, the first set of multiyear estimates 

was released for data collected between 

January 2005 and December 2007. 

These 3-year estimates were published 

for geographic areas with populations 

of 20,000 and greater. The U.S. Census 

Bureau is planning to release the first 

5-year estimates in late 2010 for the 

smallest geographic areas based on data 

collected between January 2005 and 

December 2009.

The data contained in this report are 

based on the ACS sample interviewed 

in 2007 and 2008. For information on the 

ACS sample design and other topics, visit 

<www.census.gov/acs/www>.
2 U.S. Census Bureau

into account and are significant 

at the 90 percent confidence level 

unless noted otherwise. Due to 

rounding, some details may not 

sum to totals. For information on 

sampling and estimation methods, 

confidentiality protection, and 

sampling and nonsampling errors, 

please see the “2008 ACS Accuracy 

of the Data” document located at 

<www.census.gov/acs/www

/Downloads/ACS/accuracy2008

.pdf>. 

Median Selected 

Monthly Housing Costs 

for Homeowners With 

Mortgages

Selected monthly housing costs 

for homeowners include payments 

for mortgages, taxes, insurance, 

utilities, and other components 

of monthly housing expenses.1

Comparing the 2008 median 

selected monthly housing costs 

for homeowners with one or more 

mortgages shows that the median 

housing costs for California homeowners with mortgages ($2,384) 

was higher than the housing costs 

of homeowners with mortgages in 

the other 49 states and the District 

of Columbia. New Jersey had the 

second-highest median housing 

costs ($2,360). Hawaii ($2,265) and 

the District of Columbia ($2,218) 

followed but were not significantly 

different from each other. Rounding 

out the top six were Connecticut 

1 For a detailed definition of selected 

monthly owner costs (SMOC) and inflation 

adjustment factors used when comparing 

current to previous year costs, see <www

.census.gov/acs/www/Downloads/2008

/usedata/Subject_Definitions.pdf>.

($2,108) and Massachusetts 

($2,105), which also were not significantly different from each other. 

Conversely, the 2008 median 

selected monthly housing costs 

for homeowners with mortgages 

in West Virginia ($878) was lower 

than the median housing costs of 

homeowners with mortgages in 

the other 49 states and the District 

of Columbia. Arkansas had the 

second-lowest median housing 

costs ($964); Mississippi ($1,014) 

was third, followed by Kentucky 

($1,055) and Oklahoma ($1,064), 

whose medians were not statistically different. Alabama had the 

sixth-lowest median selected 

monthly housing costs for homeowners with mortgages ($1,089).

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2007 and 2008; and Puerto Rico Community Survey, 2007 and 2008.

* DC is represented at 4.5 times the scale of other continental states.

MT

AK

NM

OR MN

KS

SD

ND

MO

WA

FL

IL IN

WI NY

PA

MI

OH

IA

ME

MA 

CT 

AZ

NV

TX

CA CO

WY

UT

ID

NE

OK

GA

AR

AL

NC

MS

LA

TN

KY

VA

SC

WV

RI 

DE 

MD 

NJ 

HI

VT NH

PR

DC*

Increased

Decreased

No statistical change

Difference in Median Selected Monthly Housing Costs for 

Homeowners With Mortgages by State and Puerto Rico: 

2007 to 2008 

Difference in median 

monthly housing costs 

for homeowners with a 

mortgage
U.S. Census Bureau 3

Median selected monthly housing 

costs for homeowners with one or 

more mortgages, after adjusting for 

inflation, rose between 2007 and 

2008 for nine states and declined 

for eight states. Five states that 

experienced increases were in 

the West (Hawaii, Montana, Utah, 

Washington, and Wyoming); three 

were in the Northeast (Connecticut, 

Maryland, and Pennsylvania); and 

one was in the South (Mississippi). 

Five states that experienced 

declines were in the South (Florida, 

North Carolina, South Carolina, 

Texas, and West Virginia) and three 

were in the Midwest (Michigan, 

Missouri, and Ohio). The average decrease in the median 

selected monthly housing costs for 

homeowners with mortgages in 

the United States was 0.3 percent 

between 2007 and 2008. 
4 U.S. Census Bureau

Median Selected Monthly Housing Costs for Homeowners With Mortgages by State and

Puerto Rico: 2007 and 2008

(In 2008 infl ation-adjusted dollars. For information on confi dentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and defi nitions, see

www.census.gov/acs/www)

Area

2007 median selected

monthly owner costs

(dollars)

2008 median selected 

monthly owner costs

(dollars)

Change in median selected monthly owner costs 

(2008 less 2007)

Estimate

Margin of 

error1

 (±) Estimate

Margin of 

error1 (±)

Dollars Percent 

Estimate

Margin of 

error1 (±) Estimate

Margin of 

error1 (±)

 United States . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,518 3 1,514 2 *–4 4 *–0.3 0.2

Alabama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,087 11 1,089 10 2 15 0.2 1.3

Alaska . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,779 37 1,732 35 –47 51 –2.6 2.8

Arizona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,512 13 1,527 15 15 20 1.0 1.3

Arkansas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 959 10 964 12 5 16 0.5 1.6

California . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,395 9 2,384 8 –11 12 –0.5 0.5

Colorado . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,628 11 1,620 12 –8 16 –0.5 1.0

Connecticut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,053 24 2,108 23 *55 33 *2.7 1.6

Delaware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,540 32 1,580 27 40 43 2.6 2.8

District of Columbia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,164 78 2,218 66 54 102 2.5 4.8

Florida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,638 10 1,603 9 *–35 13 *–2.1 0.8

Georgia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,392 8 1,387 11 –5 13 –0.4 1.0

Hawaii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,173 44 2,265 45 *92 63 *4.2 3.0

Idaho . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,204 15 1,198 19 –6 24 –0.5 2.0

Illinois . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,687 9 1,684 10 –3 13 –0.2 0.8

Indiana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,140 7 1,144 8 4 10 0.4 0.9

Iowa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,138 9 1,131 9 –7 12 –0.6 1.1

Kansas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,212 13 1,212 12 – 18 – 1.4

Kentucky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,063 11 1,055 11 –8 15 –0.8 1.4

Louisiana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,116 11 1,111 11 –5 16 –0.4 1.4

Maine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,296 21 1,326 24 30 32 2.3 2.5

Maryland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,951 12 1,983 17 *32 21 *1.6 1.1

Massachusetts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,106 17 2,105 15 –1 23 – 1.1

Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,382 6 1,351 7 *–31 9 *–2.2 0.7

Minnesota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,558 11 1,545 9 –13 14 –0.8 0.9

Mississippi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 988 10 1,014 17 *26 20 *2.6 2.0

Missouri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,196 8 1,180 8 *–16 12 *–1.3 1.0

Montana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,179 22 1,239 28 *60 36 *5.1 3.1

Nebraska . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,243 13 1,235 14 –8 19 –0.6 1.5

Nevada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,852 27 1,818 25 –34 36 –1.8 1.9

New Hampshire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,889 24 1,900 27 11 36 0.6 1.9

New Jersey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,357 14 2,360 14 3 20 0.1 0.8

New Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,167 19 1,173 18 6 26 0.5 2.3

New York . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,933 15 1,936 12 3 19 0.2 1.0

North Carolina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,230 7 1,218 7 *–12 10 *–1.0 0.8

North Dakota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,135 27 1,140 24 5 36 0.4 3.2

Ohio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,293 7 1,275 6 *–18 10 *–1.4 0.7

Oklahoma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,056 11 1,064 10 8 15 0.8 1.5

Oregon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,567 14 1,585 13 18 19 1.1 1.2

Pennsylvania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,373 7 1,389 7 *16 10 *1.2 0.7

Rhode Island . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,847 30 1,888 30 41 42 2.2 2.3

South Carolina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,160 11 1,142 11 *–18 16 *–1.6 1.3

South Dakota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,146 21 1,174 22 28 30 2.4 2.7

Tennessee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,146 9 1,149 8 3 12 0.3 1.1

Texas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,392 6 1,380 6 *–12 8 *–0.9 0.6

Utah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,408 15 1,445 15 *37 21 *2.6 1.5

Vermont . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,444 23 1,471 25 27 34 1.9 2.4

Virginia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,716 13 1,715 13 –1 18 –0.1 1.1

Washington . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,734 12 1,763 14 *29 19 *1.7 1.1

West Virginia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 910 18 878 13 *–32 22 *–3.5 2.4

Wisconsin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,426 9 1,424 9 –2 12 –0.1 0.9

Wyoming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,206 30 1,272 35 *66 46 *5.5 3.9

Puerto Rico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 849 12 844 13 –5 17 –0.6 2.1

* Statistically different from zero at the 90 percent confi dence level. – Represents or rounds to zero.

1

 Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability. A margin of error is a measure of an estimate’s variability. The larger the margin of error in relation to 

the size of the estimate, the less reliable the estimate. When added to and subtracted from the estimate, the margin of error forms the 90 percent confi dence interval.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2007 and 2008; and Puerto Rico Community Survey, 2007 and 2008.