Durham's median home price sits at $380,000, 10% below the $420,000 national median. On a $68,000 median household income, that puts the price-to-income ratio at 5.6x, or 5.6 years of gross pay for the purchase price alone.
At a 0.85% effective rate, Durham property taxes add $269 to the monthly payment on the median home, $3,230 a year in total.
North Carolina levies a state income tax on top of the $2,398/month this mortgage runs. Model your real after-tax take-home before deciding how much payment you can carry.
Durham's cost of living index is 100, at the 100 national baseline. That's on top of the housing numbers above, not instead of them.
Durham's median home price runs 3% lower than nearby Charlotte: $390,000 there versus $380,000 here.