The overall percentage of homes sold in the Chicago region that were affordable to buyers earning the region’s median income stayed relatively constant during the 1990s. Many areas within the region, however, offer less choice to a homebuyer who earns a median income, for instance, like a police officer, teacher, service worker or factory worker. In the Barrington, North Shore, Oak Park and Northwest sub-regions, as defined by the Illinois Association of Realtors, the affordability index shows that such buyers had less than 100% of the income needed to buy a home at the median price level for that sub-region. Sub-regions with index values above 100 have greater housing choice for median-income buyers.