Is Door County an affordable place to buy a home? This national study says yes

DOOR COUNTY - A lack of available affordable housing has long been a problem in Door County, but one national study says the Peninsula is one of the most affordable places in Wisconsin for prospective homeowners.

The study by New York-based financial technology and advice company SmartAsset ranked Door County as the eighth-most affordable place to buy a home among the state's 72 counties.

To come up with the rankings, SmartAsset analyzed average closing costs, property taxes, homeowner insurance rates and mortgage payments over a five-year period in every municipality across the U.S. with a population of 5,000 or more, a news release from the firm said.

The study then used those figures to come up with a total home ownership cost over those five years and compared the cost to median household incomes in those locations, with extra weighting given to the mortgage payments. The most affordable places were considered those where total housing costs were smallest compared to the median income.

Each location then was indexed on a scale from 0 to 100, with the higher scores being the more affordable.

While Door County was ranked eighth overall in Wisconsin for affordability, it did not rank in the Top 10 among the state's counties in any of the individual factors considered. The SmartAsset website for the affordability study gives average closing costs in Door County as $3,150, average annual property tax at $2,740, average annual homeowners insurance at $1,173 and average annual mortgage payments at $14,595, compared to a median income of $71,371.

Door County's final Affordability Index number was 35.22, sandwiched between Marathon County's 35.56 and Wood County's 35.11 in state rankings. Grant County, in the southwesternmost corner of Wisconsin, was ranked No. 1 at 44.66, the only county in the state with an index score above 40. Counties in Alabama topped the national rankings, with Montgomery County scoring a 100 and Mobile County an 86.33.

This isn't the first time the Peninsula has attained high rankings in a SmartAsset study. Door County was ranked fourth for greatest per capita wealth and second for purchasing power among Wisconsin counties in two studies released by the company in 2022, and another study released last year ranked the Door as the third-best county in the state in which to own a small business in 2022.

For more on the study, including interactive maps and a more detailed explanation of the methodology, visit smartasset.com/mortgage/how-much-house-can-i-afford#us/mostAffordable-0 .

C ontact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@doorcountyadvocate.com.

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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Is Door County an affordable place to buy a home? This national study says yes