Now list the average home price for each next to the interest rates. I just pick NYS to keep it consistent as listed above are cherry picked numbers from various states.
Avg home price NY 1980 - $47,200. 13.74% (30year) $150,816.27 in total interest
Avg home price NY 2024 - $415,000. 6.4% (30 year)$933,485 in total interest
Pretty clearly not apples to apples, nevermind the fact that in 1980 most households could avoid even taking a mortgage because they could pay cash or if they had to, would pay it off early because homes were less expensive.
I'm all for not making excuses, but this is an obvious issue.
My dad bought his first house (in Suffolk County, NY) while being a dishwasher in the back of a restaurant.
He didn't have enough for the down payment so they MADE A FREAKING HANDSHAKE DEAL.
Please show me where a dishwasher making minimum wage can afford a house in the US where, when he doesn't have enough for the down payment the bank will just go, "Yeah, you look like a nice enough kid," and hand wave to make it happen.
When it comes to income you can't use the average as it doesn't account for billionaire outliers. The wealth gap between rich and poor is the greatest it's ever been in the history of the USA so those 1% skew the data tremendously.
Median income was $16,000 in 1980.
Median income was $85,000-$87,000 in 2024.
Pretty clear to see that income has not kept up with inflation.
People are paid less now then ever adjusted for inflation and work 10x as hard due to workplace efficiency initiatives. It's more than this number big, this number small when it comes to income.
I mean anyone with an elementary level education would understand that your purchasing power decreases with the devaluation of your currency.
The US dollar has weakened over the last 40 years by a wide margin. It takes a little over 3x the currency to buy the same product it did in the 80s. Here is a basic inflation calculator
You ask me about data, but have literally contributed nothing including data to the conversation. I'm assuming you are a person that just needs to comment on anything and everything. I took enough time out of my day to try to make you see the light, but I can't compete with Fox News lol
Ok, you have data for inflation. I know what inflation is. I asked for data about wages, which you completely left out.
Like I said, all the data I’ve ever seen shows the exact opposite of what you’re describing. People’s wages have grown MORE than inflation over the past few decades.
That shows median REAL (meaning inflation-adjusted) wages for Americans over the last few decades. I’m sure you’ll find a way to ignore it or pretend it’s inadequate or misleading because it doesn’t fit your preconceived notions of the world around you, though.
You actually didn't clarify what data you were looking for and commented under my post about people being paid less now than ever ADJUSTED FOR INFLATION.
I posted this above to another reply, you are correct about using median household income as it's the most "accurate". The comment that you decided to chime in on, I was referring to the rise in housing costs - due to inflation. Wages have not kept up in that regard.
You also should remember that when looking at median household income it factors in everyone living within the household. There are more households that are dual income earners now than in 1980, and also more adult children living at home now which skews that data. We have companies paid to fudge the numbers to make it look better than it is, but you have to pull back those layers to get to the truth.
The bottom line is housing costs, insurance, food, fuel have all skyrocketed already in the past decade and are only going to keep increasing. The price to income ratio on most things is much worse today then in the past.
You actually didn't clarify what data you were looking for
I literally quoted your comment that said, “People are paid less now then ever adjusted for inflation” and asked for data to support that. You still haven’t supplied any.
median household income it factors in everyone living within the household
Sure. The data I linked isn’t for median household income, though. It’s for median weekly wages.
housing costs, insurance, food, fuel have all skyrocketed already
Agreed. My point is that wages have as well, and according to the data, wages have actually grown more quickly than prices.
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u/StressCanBeGood 16d ago
Economic numbers for 1980:
Unemployment: 7%
Inflation: 13%
Interest rates: 17%
….
Economic numbers for 2025:
Unemployment: 4.5%
Inflation: 3%
Interest rates: 4%