The numbers in here are a bit scattered and tell a bizarre story because some are inflation adjusted and some aren't. The one that set this rant off was the sup

The numbers in here are a bit scattered and tell a bizarre story because some are inflation adjusted and some aren't. The one that set this rant off was the super misleading housing numbers. From 1996 to 2019 (the article uses a mix of 2019 and 2020 figures), inflation boosts prices 1.63x. Homer's $25k 1996 income would be $40.75k in 2019 ($41.5 today). That puts them at the 30th percentile of household income and him the 36th percentile of individual income today [0]. For the house affordability the Q3 2019 vs Q3 1996 median house price increased 2.27x [3]. After adjusting for 1.63x inflation, it's 1.4x more expensive. But mortgages are way cheaper today. The 1996 December average mortgage interest rates was around 7.7% [1]. Today's 30 year fixed rate mortgage is around 2.9% [2]. Homer's monthly mortgage payments on the same mortgage today would would be 58% of what they were then. Adjusting for the 1.4x real house price increase, a Homer buying today would have monthly payments of 82% what he would in 96. That's 18% lower! (This is what set off my rant, seeing the '2.4x higher housing costs!' in the article) Healthcare costs are about 3x higher, as the article says, so about 1.8x after inflation adjustment. Median tuition for a four year college is 2.6x more expensive in 2017-2018 (the last year in their source) and 1.64x more expensive after inflation adjustment, so who knows where their 1.8x number came from. All together, the Simpsons' family's biggest expense would probably be their mortgage, which would be cheaper today. Not to say anything about expecting TV lifestyles to be affordable. Cue the Friends and How I Met Your Mother giant apartment jokes. There's a story to be told about increasingly inaccessible lifestyles, but this article isn't it. [0] https://dqydj.com/household-income-percentile-calculator/ https://dqydj.com/household-income-percentile-calculator/ [1] http://mortgage-x.com/general/national_monthly_average.asp?y=1996 http://mortgage-x.com/general/national_monthly_average.asp?y... [2] https://www.nerdwallet.com/mortgages/mortgage-rates https://www.nerdwallet.com/mortgages/mortgage-rates [3] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MSPUS https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MSPUS