$83,782 income, $429,734 home—housing swallows 41.8% of earnings, leaving little room for life or dreams.

by

It feels surreal, a quiet suffocation hidden in plain sight. Each paycheck, carefully folded and placed into the waiting jaws of housing costs, leaves little else for the living of life. The roof becomes both shelter and weight, a paradox of safety and strain. The math doesn’t lie, but it doesn’t ease the ache either. This isn’t just economics; it’s a quiet erosion of dreams.

Sources:

https://thehill.com/business/5092459-housing-crisis-cost-of-living/

https://rocketswire.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2025/01/22/economists-phoenix-u-s-economies-solid-but-housing-still-pricey/77859497007/

https://home.treasury.gov/news/featured-stories/rent-house-prices-and-demographics

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2024/renter-households-cost-burdened-race.html

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/10/25/a-look-at-the-state-of-affordable-housing-in-the-us/

h/t IAmNotAnEconomist