The math at $600k
$600,000 a year is $50,000 a month gross; the guideline allows ~$14,000 for housing and $18,000 for all debts. Take-home runs very roughly $28,000–$31,000 a month — between federal brackets and California's top marginal rates, close to 40% of gross never reaches you — so the guideline payment is about 47% of net.
Worked examples at 7% (an example rate):
- $2.2M home, 25% down → $1.65M loan → $10,973 P&I + ~$2,110 property tax + ~$550 insurance = ~$13,600 a month, just under the guideline.
- $2.6M home, 30% down → $1.82M loan → $12,103 P&I + ~$2,490 tax + ~$650 insurance = ~$15,250 a month — 30% of gross, well inside the ceiling for a clean file.
Is $600k a good salary in California?
It is roughly six times the statewide median household income (about $96,000, Census ACS) and comfortably in the top 1–2% of households. The practical meaning for a purchase: the payment fits; what you are managing is concentration — of income in one employer or one stock, and of net worth in one address.
$600k is rarely $600k of salary
At this level the package is usually base plus bonus plus equity, and sometimes partnership or K-1 income. Underwriting counts each differently — two-year histories, averaging, volatility haircuts, only-while-vesting rules — so a $600k W-2 can underwrite as $420k. More important than what the lender counts is what you count: model the payment against your base alone. If base covers it, a down cycle is an inconvenience; if base doesn't, a down cycle is a forced sale into a soft market. The $500k guide covers interest-only and asset-backed structures for genuinely lumpy income; use them for timing, never for size.
Jumbo mechanics at $1.5–2M of loan
- Down payment: 20% is standard; 10–15%-down jumbos exist for strong files at a price. Above ~$2M of loan some lenders step the minimum to 25–30%.
- Reserves: commonly 6–12 months of full housing payments after closing, in liquid or near-liquid accounts; some programs count a share of retirement balances.
- Documentation and appraisals: heavier files, and often two appraisals on larger loans — plan escrows at 30–45 days rather than 21.
- Relationship pricing: private banks and wealth arms discount for assets moved to the institution. Get a quote from at least one of each — private bank, retail bank, independent jumbo lender — because the spread at this size is hundreds of dollars a month.
Finance it, or write the check?
With this income and real savings you could put 40–50% down, or in some cases pay cash. The framing that works is opportunity cost: every extra $100k of down payment earns a guaranteed return equal to your mortgage rate and buys a smaller, more resilient payment; every $100k kept invested keeps its upside and its volatility. Two facts tilt the math at this bracket — mortgage interest is deductible only on the first $750k of balance, so the marginal million is carried with after-tax dollars; and a cash or large-down purchase wins bidding wars in tight neighborhoods. There is no universal answer; there is a correct process, which is running both versions against your actual portfolio expectations with your advisor and CPA (our CPA guide covers who does what).
The costs that scale with the house
Property tax at ~1.1–1.25% is $25,000–$32,000 a year on a $2.4M home, plus the supplemental bill after closing. Insurance becomes its own project: high-value homes increasingly need specialty carriers, and in fire-zone hillsides and canyons the quote can change which house makes sense — get the insurance answer before the offer, every time. Maintenance at 1–2% of value is $25,000–$50,000 a year on average, arriving in lumps. And on the resale side, know that the City of Los Angeles adds its Measure ULA transfer tax to sales above roughly $5 million (thresholds adjust each July) — not a factor at $2.4M, but worth knowing before you trade up later.
How your credit score changes this
Jumbo lenders price the file even when they are courting your assets, and tiers step at the usual bands:
| Score band | What it typically means for a conventional loan |
|---|---|
| 780+ | Best pricing tier under the current agency grids |
| 740–779 | Strong — small pricing add-ons at most lenders |
| 700–739 | Solid — noticeable pricing add-ons start here |
| 660–699 | Approvable — pricing and mortgage-insurance costs step up meaningfully |
| 620–659 | Conventional floor territory — FHA often prices better here |
| Below 620 | Conventional is out; FHA allows 580+ at 3.5% down (500–579 requires 10% down) |
At $1.7M of loan, the same three-quarter-point rate difference that costs a mid-bracket buyer $50,000 of house costs you $120,000+ — or several hundred dollars a month on the same address. Files at this bracket fail on noise, not weakness: a co-signed loan for a relative, a store card opened for a discount, heavy utilization in a stock-sale month. Pull your reports before your lender does and keep the file frozen through closing.