$32,000 in 1994 is worth $68,000 in 2024 according to official CPI figures. You did alright - this is basically median HOUSEHOLD income at the time, far higher

$32,000 in 1994 is worth $68,000 in 2024 according to official CPI figures. You did alright - this is basically median HOUSEHOLD income at the time, far higher than median "Young single male" income. But CPI figures aren't what we have to deal with. Average rent in 1994 was roughly $500 ($6000/year). Today it's $1400 ($16800/year). You were paying (if a median unit) 15-20% of your income in rent and felt that this was too much and you needed a roommate. Today there are lots of people making $32000 a year at full-time jobs (that's $16/hr, pretax), or LESS than that, and being told that they need to pay more than 50%. Or that because they make so little (we credit check tenants now!), they simply are not allowed to rent legally.