This gap in growth between home prices and household incomes has made it increasingly difficult for even middle-income households to own a home, real estate professionals, economists, and recent research say. The Pew Research Center classifies households earning between 67 percent and 200 percent of the overall median household income, adjusted for household size, as "middle-income" households. Based on the Census Bureau median of $83,730, this means those households had annual incomes of between $56,100 and $167,460. He noted that younger, middle-income buyers who are determined to make a purchase may start with a condo or townhome. "In many parts of the Northeast, buyers are competing against housing costs that simply don't align with middle-income salaries."