A buyer who purchases the median-priced U.S. home today with 20% down will pay $413,700 in interest over a 30-year mortgage at the current 6.53% rate, according to a new report from Best Interest Financial and Clever Real Estate, a St. Louis-based real estate company.

That is $10,500 more than the home itself costs. Put another way, buyers will pay 102.6% of the home's price again in interest, a ratio that recently crossed 100% for the first time since September 2025.

At 2021's average rate of 2.96%, today's median home would cost $692 less a month, $8,306 less a year, or a staggering $249,188 less in interest over the life of the loan.

On the other hand, if today's rate climbed a single percentage point to 7.53%, the typical buyer would pay $78,066 more in lifetime interest. Putting down the FHA minimum of 3.5% instead of 20% adds even more, an extra $85,326 over the life of the loan.

Choosing a 15-year mortgage at today's 5.87% rate would save $250,378 over a 30-year loan, though it pushes the monthly payment up by $654.

Although loan decisions make a big impact, location matters just as much. Every metro studied shares the same 102.6% ratio but not the same dollar figure.

California claims five of the six most interest-burdened metros, while Ohio sits at the opposite extreme, home to four of the 10 metros where buyers pay the least in lifetime interest.

The metros with the highest lifetime interest are:

1. San Jose, CA ($1,718,620)
2. San Francisco, CA ($1,231,250)
3. Los Angeles, CA ($1,077,344)
4. Honolulu, HI ($1,041,843)
5. San Diego, CA ($992,695)
6. Oxnard, CA ($941,650)
7. Bridgeport, CT ($795,182)
8. Seattle, WA ($749,010)
9. New York, NY ($702,839)
10. Boston, MA ($682,318)

The most affordable metros for mortgage interest are:

1. Toledo, OH ($163,654)
2. Akron, OH ($184,688)
3. Scranton, PA ($207,517)
4. Cleveland, OH ($220,496)
5. Pittsburgh, PA ($220,599)
6. Dayton, OH ($221,112)
7. Syracuse, NY ($225,729)
8. McAllen, TX ($234,451)
9. Little Rock, AR ($235,990)
10. Rochester, NY ($241,120)

Read the full report at: https://bestinterest.com/research/how-much-is-mortgage-interest-2026/