The National Housing Conference (NHC)’s Paycheck to Paycheck database is a free tool illustrating "the ability – or lack thereof – of working families to purchase or rent a home in metropolitan areas across the country by comparing wage data and housing costs." Users can compare up to three metro different metro areas, and up to five different occupations; the database then generates graphs and charts illustrating the median income for a given occupation in the selected market(s), as well as the minimum income required to purchase a home in that market with both a 3% and 10% down payment. The tool also includes rental costs for studio, 1- 2- 3-, and 4-bedroom apartments, creating a snapshot of general housing affordability across the country. 

For example, according to the database, the annual salary for an elemenary school teacher in the New York-New Jersey metro area is around $97,000; to purchase a home at at 10% down, that teacher would need to make nearly $223,000 a year; at 3% down, nearly $242,000. In the Chicagoland area, the gap is somewhat narrower, but still gaping: annual teachers' salary there is around $68,000, but in order to afford to buy a home, educators would need to earn between $107,000 and $114,000, depending on their down payment capabilities. In Las Vegas, a similar story: average annual salary for elementary teachers is about $62,500, but it takes well over double that - between $143,000 and $153,000 - to be in the running to own a home. The rental landscape in these markets is no less daunting; the average salary in all three markets will just cover a studio or 1-bedroom apartment. 

NHC updates the database every quarter to keep up with the rapidly shifting housing market, and issues quarterly reports "highlighting a different angle of the housing costs facing families across the country."