I just did a quick mortgage affordability calculation and someone who earns at the bottom end of the 5% can only afford a $300,000-400,000 home.
Even where I live, which is very rural with comparatively cheap homes, only gets you a modest sized home. You need at least $500K to even start looking at 3000 sq. feet homes with big garages unless they are complete dives.
Yes. Obviously a 3000 square foot house with a three car garage is a bit much for a single person, so I was assuming top 5% household income. Top 5% there is ~$200K/year.
I'd be interested to see which calculator and which figures randomdata was using. I have a hard time getting less than $750,000 for a "conservative" figure, assuming your debt isn't absurd and you save up for a $100K down payment (should be very manageable with $200K gross).
Fair, though not all households have multiple earners either. I think it is still quite conceivable for someone to be in the top 1% and still feel like they are failing in life.
And what about local wealth distributions? A $100K income puts you in like the top 0.5% in my community. Someone making that much here is part of a 1% group, just not at the country scale. If houses are cheap in your locality, I expect things to be similar.
Even where I live, which is very rural with comparatively cheap homes, only gets you a modest sized home. You need at least $500K to even start looking at 3000 sq. feet homes with big garages unless they are complete dives.