Buying the median home in Wellesley means financing $1,750,000. Against the area's $305,000 median household income, that works out to a 5.7x price-to-income ratio.
Property taxes in Wellesley run 1.1% of assessed value, in line with the 1.1% national average. On the median home, that's $19,250 a year, or $1,604 added to the monthly payment.
Massachusetts levies a state income tax on top of the $11,455/month this mortgage runs. Model your real after-tax take-home before deciding how much payment you can carry.
Wellesley's cost of living index is 200, above the 100 national baseline. That's on top of the housing numbers above, not instead of them.
Wellesley's median home price runs 133% higher than nearby Boston: $750,000 there versus $1,750,000 here.