In 1960, the average price of a house was $11.9k. In todayâs money, that would be around $129k. In 1960, the federal minimum wage was a dollar an hour. Roughly $2,080 a year if you work 40 hours a week every week. In todayâs money, thatâd be around $22k a year.
Today, the federal minimum wage is 7.25 an hour. Roughly $15k a year if you work 40 hours a week every week. Today, the median home price is $410k and the average is $512k.
In 1960, making minimum wage, and saving every single cent you make (and disregarding taxation), itâd take 5 and a half years to save up enough to buy a house. In 2025, making federal minimum wage, and saving every single cent and disregarding taxation, it would take you 34 fucking years to have saved up enough to buy an average priced house, 27 years to buy a median priced one.
Young people cannot afford homes. Young people will never be home owners. Young people can barely afford to eat and pay rent for a studio apartment. Boomers completely pulled that ladder up from us and fucked everyone over for the rest of their lives while they enjoy their beach houses and boats and luxury cars. This system is fucked.
