Your Loan Estimate has a number on page 2 called total loan costs. Is it high, low, or normal? Government filings give a real answer, county by county, from actual 2024 closings.
What counts as “normal” here
These numbers come from the CFPB’s Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data for 2024: first lien conventional loans for a home purchase that actually closed, in counties with at least 100 qualifying loans that year. Refinances, FHA, VA, and USDA loans, second liens, and applications that were denied or withdrawn are not in these figures. The median is the middle value when every qualifying loan in that county is lined up from cheapest to most expensive. Half the borrowers paid less than the median and half paid more. It is not an average pulled up by a few expensive loans, and it is not a promise of what you will pay.
California
Statewide, the 2024 median conventional purchase loan in California carried a 6.729% rate and $7,982.08 in total loan costs, on a median loan amount of $585,000. About 41.981% of borrowers paid discount points, with a median points cost of $3,750.40 when they did, and 36.399% got a lender credit.
Rates in these tables are note rates. The APR on each loan was higher once fees were counted; see Rate vs APR.
| County | Median rate | Median total loan costs | Median origination charges | Median loan amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 6.875% | $10,117.55 | $3,434.45 | $705,000 |
| San Diego | 6.75% | $8,804.86 | $2,599.40 | $685,000 |
| Orange | 6.875% | $9,076.12 | $2,295.00 | $765,000 |
The biggest county to county gap in the state’s full county list is between Los Angeles ($10,117.55) and Santa Clara ($5,147.10), a difference of $4,970.45 in median total loan costs. That gap is between two counties in the same state and the same year, so it is not explained by rates alone.
Texas
Statewide, Texas closed conventional purchase loans in 2024 at a 6.625% median rate and $6,828.245 in median total loan costs, on a $305,000 median loan. About 49.5% of borrowers paid points, with a $3,240.00 median points cost, and 27.506% got a lender credit.
| County | Median rate | Median total loan costs | Median origination charges | Median loan amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harris | 6.625% | $7,076.065 | $2,803.955 | $295,000 |
| Dallas | 6.75% | $7,281.12 | $2,669.625 | $345,000 |
| Tarrant | 6.65% | $6,873.29 | $2,775.00 | $305,000 |
Florida
Statewide, Florida’s 2024 median conventional purchase loan carried a 6.875% rate and $7,000.785 in total loan costs, on a $325,000 median loan. About 49.33% of borrowers paid points, with a $3,215.63 median points cost, and 27.574% got a lender credit.
| County | Median rate | Median total loan costs | Median origination charges | Median loan amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miami-Dade | 6.99% | $11,429.45 | $6,093.30 | $475,000 |
| Broward | 6.875% | $9,059.95 | $4,502.50 | $405,000 |
| Palm Beach | 6.875% | $8,300.37 | $3,495.00 | $405,000 |
Miami-Dade’s median origination charges of $6,093.30 stand out on their own, more than double Broward’s $4,502.50 and Palm Beach’s $3,495.00, even though all three are large counties in the same state. The state’s biggest county to county gap runs from Monroe County (Florida Keys), $12,361.38, down to Sumter County (The Villages), $4,552.25, a $7,809.13 spread.
Reading these rates with an APR
Every rate above is a median closed rate, not an offer, and HMDA does not publish an APR for it. For scale, here is an illustrative APR on this page’s own $320,000 loan example: at 6.5%, assuming $3,000 in lender fees and zero points, the APR works out to roughly 6.59%. Add a point, as in this page’s example of 1 point, and it moves to roughly 6.69%. Your own APR depends on your rate, your fees, and your points, not the county median.
What this means for you
Find your state and your county in these tables, or check your own county if it is not one of the three shown here. If your Loan Estimate’s total loan costs land far above the county median, that is a reason to ask questions, not proof something is wrong. Loan size, loan type, and your own credit profile all move the number. Use the median as a sanity check, then get a second Loan Estimate to compare against a real second offer instead of a historical one.
This page’s own example uses a $320,000 loan at 6.5% with 1 point. On those numbers, the monthly principal and interest payment works out to about $2,023, and the total cost of the loan through year 5 comes to about $104,112.