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Things Kids Today Will Never Understand (1 Viewer)

Labrat said:
I'll take things that never happened for 500, Alex.
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Screenshot 2026-03-19 at 9.33.36 PM.webp
Screenshot 2026-03-19 at 9.32.55 PM.webp
 
quintooo said:
View attachment 1654887View attachment 1654886
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Short answer: No — U.S. home prices have never been as low as 2:1 compared to median household income. Even in the mid‑1980s, the ratio was already around 3.5:1 and has only climbed since.


Below is the clear breakdown of what the data shows.



📈 Historical Home Price–to–Income Ratios (U.S.)​


1980s: The “Affordable Era” (but still not 2:1)​


  • 1985 median home price: $82,800
  • 1985 median household income: $23,620
  • Ratio: 3.5 : 1

This is the lowest well‑documented national ratio in modern U.S. housing data — and it was still far above 2:1.



📈 2000s: Ratio crosses 4:1 for the first time​


  • 2000 ratio: 4 : 1


📈 2020s: Ratios reach historic highs​


  • 2023 ratio: 5.3 : 1
  • 2025 ratio: 5.0 : 1


🧠 Why the U.S. never hit 2:1​


A 2:1 ratio would require either:


  • Home prices to be dramatically lower, or
  • Household incomes to be dramatically higher.

But historically:


  • Home prices have grown much faster than incomes.
  • Even in the 1950s–1970s (before modern data series), regional studies and census records show ratios typically between 2.5 and 3.2, depending on the city.

There is no national dataset showing a sustained 2:1 ratio in the post‑WWII era.



🏁 Bottom line​


The U.S. has never had a nationwide 2:1 home‑price‑to‑income ratio.
The lowest modern ratio was about 3.5:1 in the mid‑1980s, and affordability has worsened since.
 
Labrat said:
Short answer: No — U.S. home prices have never been as low as 2:1 compared to median household income. Even in the mid‑1980s, the ratio was already around 3.5:1 and has only climbed since.


Below is the clear breakdown of what the data shows.



📈 Historical Home Price–to–Income Ratios (U.S.)​


1980s: The “Affordable Era” (but still not 2:1)​


  • 1985 median home price: $82,800
  • 1985 median household income: $23,620
  • Ratio: 3.5 : 1

This is the lowest well‑documented national ratio in modern U.S. housing data — and it was still far above 2:1.



📈 2000s: Ratio crosses 4:1 for the first time​


  • 2000 ratio: 4 : 1


📈 2020s: Ratios reach historic highs​


  • 2023 ratio: 5.3 : 1
  • 2025 ratio: 5.0 : 1


🧠 Why the U.S. never hit 2:1​


A 2:1 ratio would require either:


  • Home prices to be dramatically lower, or
  • Household incomes to be dramatically higher.

But historically:


  • Home prices have grown much faster than incomes.
  • Even in the 1950s–1970s (before modern data series), regional studies and census records show ratios typically between 2.5 and 3.2, depending on the city.

There is no national dataset showing a sustained 2:1 ratio in the post‑WWII era.



🏁 Bottom line​


The U.S. has never had a nationwide 2:1 home‑price‑to‑income ratio.
The lowest modern ratio was about 3.5:1 in the mid‑1980s, and affordability has worsened since.
Click to expand...
thank you for copy pasting chatgpt, i revise my previous statement

kids today will never know what its like to have a 3.5:1 home price to income ratio :sick::sick::sick:
 
Labrat said:
Yet you copied a graph.

Alrighty.
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Hey Labrat, I owe you an apology. I took a small jab at you for using ChatGPT, but honestly I just did the same thing myself—I copy pasted some data I don’t even fully understand. I was just trying to make a joke, but it came off hypocritical and unfair. I hope you accept this apology.
 
quintooo said:
kids today don't know what it was like to have a 2:1 home price to income ratio :sick: :sick: :sick:
Click to expand...
Depends on where you choose to live. On either of the coasts of this country, forget about it.
I specifically relocated 5 years ago for a higher paying job to an area with a lower cost of living and much more favorable housing market price wise.

One of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
 
quintooo said:
Hey Labrat, I owe you an apology. I took a small jab at you for using ChatGPT, but honestly I just did the same thing myself—I copy pasted some data I don’t even fully understand. I was just trying to make a joke, but it came off hypocritical and unfair. I hope you accept this apology.
Click to expand...
Labrat said:
No worries. All good, my man.

Takes a whole lot more to piss me off. :tup:
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IMG_7685.gif
 
Lil Tuna said:
Depends on where you choose to live. On either of the coasts of this country, forget about it.
I specifically relocated 5 years ago for a higher paying job to an area with a lower cost of living and much more favorable housing market price wise.

One of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
Click to expand...
You can still buy houses out here for $25,000 - $40,000. But you have to live out here. Rural New Mexico is pretty open living.
 
1774018031257.webp


They aren't wrong! Damn quintoooooo move to the sticks and you can get a 1,000 sq foot home for only quarter mill!

Sante Fe isn't too far, just nab a 60-80k salary job there (the median income for a household there is 77k).

So all you have to do is buy the cheapest house, drive 4 hours a day to get to and from work, and make as much as the average household makes.

(just joking just joking. yes I'm sure I can edit the zillow search to include dilapidated and foreclosed homes or some nonsense. thats exactly what our plumber in his 20s is doing, bought a house in the city that he has to take down to the studs and is slowly working on it over time. similarly chatted with a guy working at the house yesterday, 40s and married, rented whole life, is looking for a fixer upper to get into home ownership. there's def options for capable folks)
 
BarrieJ3 said:
View attachment 1655037

They aren't wrong! Damn quintoooooo move to the sticks and you can get a 1,000 sq foot home for only quarter mill!

Sante Fe isn't too far, just nab a 60-80k salary job there (the median income for a household there is 77k).

So all you have to do is buy the cheapest house, drive 4 hours a day to get to and from work, and make as much as the average household makes.

(just joking just joking. yes I'm sure I can edit the zillow search to include dilapidated and foreclosed homes or some nonsense. thats exactly what our plumber in his 20s is doing, bought a house in the city that he has to take down to the studs and is slowly working on it over time. similarly chatted with a guy working at the house yesterday, 40s and married, rented whole life, is looking for a fixer upper to get into home ownership. there's def options for capable folks)
Click to expand...
Look in Clayton or Springer. Open your small mind.

I’ll take my sticks over whatever you call living
 
Whelp, even better news kids!

You can move to Clayton where there's 1 house for sale for only just over $100k!

Granted you're in a city/town of less than 1,000 people and you're driving over 2 hours to Amarillo TX for work where most salaries are between 25-56k a year.

Work on the house in your free time, save for a decade, and by your early 30s you'll be able to afford to move and afford rent in a city of your choosing!

1774018773594.webp


Not sure why lazy kids complain so much. Ugh, zoomers :vomit:

(I'm obviously just taking the p*ss out of it, lifes hard for each generation differently. all in good fun, but it's always funny to watch the youts and boomers chat about housing)
 
BarrieJ3 said:
Work on the house in your free time, save for a decade, and by your early 30s you'll be able to afford to move and afford rent in a city of your choosing!
Click to expand...
This is how life really works in case you never learned. It’s not like on Nickelodeon.

But dream your dreams and bitch and moan. See which path gets you success.

You can take advice from someone like him, or from someone who has actually made it. None of us old guys really care, you guys are free to go to hell however you want.
 
ekricket said:
This is how life really works in case you never learned. It’s not like on Nickelodeon.

But dream your dreams and bitch and moan. See which path gets you success.

You can take advice from someone like him, or from someone who has actually made it. None of us old guys really care, you guys are free to go to hell however you want.
Click to expand...
1774019847592.gif
 
All the talk about housing. I rented this condo in the late 90's. The owner worked for a home loan company. Said I could pay an extra $150 / month to own it, which would've been around $75K at the time. I discussed with my parents at the time. They said don't buy a condo, you're going to lose money. I did buy a house a few years later, but still look at this as a missed opportunity.

My sister did buy a condo around that time for $90K in Brentwood, CA. That condo is now worth $754K.

THANKS DAD! :ROFL: :ROFLMAO:

1485Wilson.webp
 
I bought a condo in my 20’s and upgraded to a house in my 30’s. Does anybody care?
 
upNdown said:
I bought a condo in my 20’s and upgraded to a house in my 30’s. Does anybody care?
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That's kinda the point...no one cares what it was like 30 years ago.

Unless you ask the guy who mentions buying a house out of high school while smoking weed ordered from a rotary. According to him, you guys SLAVED away 24/7 for it.

Despite...you know....the extreme polarization and affordability for the most important cornerstone to economic stability and mobility in the US being gone for kids now.
 
BarrieJ3 said:
Despite...you know....the extreme polarization and affordability for the most important cornerstone to stability and generational wealth in the US being gone for kids now.
Click to expand...
As you say, who cares. We got ours, HAHAHAHA
 
SixSpeedFury said:
Crazy how you couldn't be on the phone and online at the same time back then. Now online is on the phone.
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In the early 80s, my mom bought a Tandy RadioShack “laptop” with a four line LCD display.

She convinced the newspaper she wrote for to set up a kludge-y dialup connection so she could upload her stories from home to the newsroom.

40+ years later she can’t figure out how to reply to a text message. IDGI
 

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