4 ms·

In the early 60s, a relative of mine was a new engineer with a $12K salary. A new car was around $3K and the house he bought was around $24K. How many people

In the early 60s, a relative of mine was a new engineer with a $12K salary. A new car was around $3K and the house he bought was around $24K. How many people have starting salaries these days that are 50% of a typical suburban home in an area they can find work in?

maxxxxx 9y ago
Same for my neighbor in an LA suburb. Started as plumber in the 70s with 24k salary. Bought house for 40k. House will probably sell for 800k today. He says a plumber will probably make 60k-80k today.
pxeboot 9y ago
Probably not common, but still possible for those with professional degrees in many places in the US. After all, the median home price is still around 200k. Student loans are probably more of an issue then housing prices for new graduates in lower cost of living areas.
Spooky23 9y ago
In the early 2000s I was making $55k and bought my first home for $130k. It was possible, although harder now as money is too easy to get. You have three problems... over consolidation of industry, over consolidation of capital and inflationary pressure via easy credit. Bay Area real estate is a shitshow in many perspectives. The root problem is that the money people are all there, and would rather not travel. It’s dumb for all stakeholders, corporate, capital and working that such an important and large component of the US economy is dependent on the Bay Area. It’s doubly stupid as the whole region could be leveled by an earthquake at any time. I’ve worked on projects where significant numbers of people contributing to the project have been on other continent. It defies all reason that we don’t have the ability to finance business in Omaha, Buffalo, or Nashville.
- shifter 9y ago
  Nashville's getting pretty expensive, too, thought it's nothing compared to the Bay Area.
- wycs 9y ago
  An earthquake remains the only plausible fix for the California NIMBYism.
- vfulco2 9y ago
  Easy credit was one of the primary drivers of the death of the America dream. All anchoring to intrinsic value was lost when people could pay the markup on the product and carry the debt burden on top.
thekevan 9y ago
So they made today's equivalent of about $98k and bought a house for $196k. Did he buy the house the same year? Outside of major areas like NYC, SF and LA, a professional starting at $45k and buying a starter house for $100k is doable. Your example is anecdotal, here's mine. I know several people who were making $40-50k in professional like sales or engineering after just a few years of college and bought wonderful little starter houses in the $60 - $100k range. This is Rochester NY which has a cost of living score of about 82 out of 100 in the US. (LA is a 166, Austin, 117, Philly, 99, Chicago, 110.)
- antisthenes 9y ago
  A starter house in the Northeast now costs about $350k, while salaries have stagnated.
- germinalphrase 9y ago
  Are those relatively recent numbers? 60-100k seems quite low based my experience with the urban Midwest (Madison, Minneapolis) - probably 50% what I'd expect to see. Maybe out in rural areas, but then you have more limited professional class jobs (sales/engineering).

maxxxxx 9y ago

Same for my neighbor in an LA suburb. Started as plumber in the 70s with 24k salary. Bought house for 40k. House will probably sell for 800k today. He says a plumber will probably make 60k-80k today.

pxeboot 9y ago

Probably not common, but still possible for those with professional degrees in many places in the US. After all, the median home price is still around 200k. Student loans are probably more of an issue then housing prices for new graduates in lower cost of living areas.

Spooky23 9y ago

In the early 2000s I was making $55k and bought my first home for $130k. It was possible, although harder now as money is too easy to get. You have three problems... over consolidation of industry, over consolidation of capital and inflationary pressure via easy credit. Bay Area real estate is a shitshow in many perspectives. The root problem is that the money people are all there, and would rather not travel. It’s dumb for all stakeholders, corporate, capital and working that such an important and large component of the US economy is dependent on the Bay Area. It’s doubly stupid as the whole region could be leveled by an earthquake at any time. I’ve worked on projects where significant numbers of people contributing to the project have been on other continent. It defies all reason that we don’t have the ability to finance business in Omaha, Buffalo, or Nashville.

shifter 9y ago
Nashville's getting pretty expensive, too, thought it's nothing compared to the Bay Area.
wycs 9y ago
An earthquake remains the only plausible fix for the California NIMBYism.
vfulco2 9y ago
Easy credit was one of the primary drivers of the death of the America dream. All anchoring to intrinsic value was lost when people could pay the markup on the product and carry the debt burden on top.

thekevan 9y ago

So they made today's equivalent of about $98k and bought a house for $196k. Did he buy the house the same year? Outside of major areas like NYC, SF and LA, a professional starting at $45k and buying a starter house for $100k is doable. Your example is anecdotal, here's mine. I know several people who were making $40-50k in professional like sales or engineering after just a few years of college and bought wonderful little starter houses in the $60 - $100k range. This is Rochester NY which has a cost of living score of about 82 out of 100 in the US. (LA is a 166, Austin, 117, Philly, 99, Chicago, 110.)

antisthenes 9y ago
A starter house in the Northeast now costs about $350k, while salaries have stagnated.
germinalphrase 9y ago
Are those relatively recent numbers? 60-100k seems quite low based my experience with the urban Midwest (Madison, Minneapolis) - probably 50% what I'd expect to see. Maybe out in rural areas, but then you have more limited professional class jobs (sales/engineering).