HOA and Condo Fees Now Top $500 a Month for 3 Million Households—Homeowners in These States Pay the Most

A quarter of all owned households in the United States paid either a condominium or a homeowners association fee in 2024, with 3 million facing hefty monthly charges of more than $500, according to a new U.S. Census Bureau survey.

HOAs are nonprofits that collect monthly fees to manage shared common areas and amenities, such as swimming pools and parking garages, in planned and gated communities across the U.S. 

Similar to HOAs, condo associations also collect fees, but those typically are higher and go toward paying for shared services and building features, such as roofs and hallways. 

"The high and growing share of homeowners subject to HOA fees is a result of the trend for newly built communities to employ HOAs at a high rate," explains Realtor.com® senior economist Joel Berner. "This has been a trend of the new-construction space in recent years, and now HOAs are a mainstay of the American housing market."

Berner notes that while HOAs provide valuable services, those often come at a high price.

"This is an added burden on home affordability that many buyers may not take into account in their housing budget, and one that is increasingly expensive," he says. "HOA fees are becoming more common and more costly, and homeowners who are already spread thin face an additional budget crunch."

Roughly 21.6 million of the 86.6 million U.S. homeowners, or 1 in 4, were on the hook for paying condo or HOA fees last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2024 American Community Survey (ACS) released on Thursday. 

This is the first time that the annual survey incorporated data on HOA fees in its assessment of the cost of homeownership.

Notably, the amount of dues varied widely both within and across states.

On the lower end of the spectrum, roughly a quarter of households had to budget less than $50 a month for HOA or condo fees. 

On the higher end, about 3 million households were settled with having to shell out more than $500 per month to keep common areas in good repair.

Most expensive states for HOA and condo fees

Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, New York earned the dubious distinction of having the highest median monthly HOA/condo fee, at a staggering $739, or more than five times the national median of $135.

Within the Empire State, 64% of homeowners reported paying more than $500 per month in HOA or condo dues.

Washington, DC, was the second most expensive area when it comes to HOA and condo dues, with the monthly median there reaching $505. About half of all owned households in the nation's capital paid over $500, according to the ACS report.

Proving that living in a tropical paradise does not come cheap, Hawaii clinched the No. 3 spot on the list of states with the highest HOA and condo levies, with a median monthly charge of $470.

In the Aloha State, roughly 50% of homeowners said their monthly housing fees exceeded $500.

"These markets have a high share of condos, and condos tend to have HOA fees at a higher rate than single-family homes per our research," points out Berner.

Among the most affordable states for monthly HOA and condo costs, Arkansas topped the list with a monthly median of just $47, followed by Wyoming and Oklahoma, at $48 each. 

Mortgaged vs. nonmortgaged homes

The report from the U.S. Census Bureau highlights the finding that there was a difference—often significant—in fee amounts paid by homeowners with and without a mortgage. 

In 2024, households with a home loan paid a median monthly HOA or condo fee of $120, below the national figure, while those without one paid $184 per month.

This was true in every state: Households without mortgages either paid more in condo/HOA fees, or there was no statistical difference. 

For example, in high-priced New York, the typical household with a mortgage paid $696 per month in HOA or condo dues, while one without a mortgage paid $794, more than the state median.

In Hawaii, nonmortgaged households paid $194 more in fees than those with mortgages. The gap was widest in Washington, DC, where homeowners without a mortgage spent $284 more than their mortgage-carrying counterparts.

"This is an added burden on home affordability that many buyers may not take into account in their housing budget, and one that is increasingly expensive," says Berner. "HOA fees are becoming more common and more costly, and homeowners who are already spread thin face an additional budget crunch."

New-construction and HOA fees

The latest ACS data aligns with a report released by Realtor.com in January 2025, which revealed that more than 40% of for-sale homes in 2024 came with HOA fees, up from 39.2% the year before. 

And newly built homes were much more likely than existing homes to carry HOA fees. Among listings on Realtor.com last year, roughly 80% of new-construction properties came with monthly levies payable to HOAs, compared with about 38% of existing homes. 

But even existing homes are not immune to added community costs: As properties in communities built more recently are resold, their HOA memberships are transferred to the next buyers, expanding the reach of HOAs in the existing-home market.

"These prices add up on top of principal, insurance, interest, and the taxes, and they make monthly payments for homeowners even more difficult than they already are," says Berner.

The economist suggests that when hunting for a home, a buyer should ask themselves whether the services provided by the HOA in the community are worth the monthly costs.