$565,000 is the median home price in Portland, Oregon currently.
$30,500 a year is the median salary for a person without a college degree.
The Simpsons started in 1989, showing Homer Simpson, who is the only person in his family with a job, but able to have a four bedroom home, three kids, a wife and did it without a college education.
Today, many people have used the Simpsons as an example of the fall of the American middle class, being subject to memes, articles and videos.
I’ve seen so much content on this, I really want to see if a person can without a college degree live in 2022 like Homer Simpson.
Above, I put the median home price for July 2022 in Portland, Oregon, because that’s generally accepted as the inspiration for the Simpson’s home town of Springfield.
Which quick glance at Portland, the median salary is just under $70,000, at $69,964 a year.
It’s also important to realize Portland, similar to the majority of the US is in a real estate bubble, largely due to interest rates.
$313,000 was the median home price in 2015, which suggests.
Which home interest rates in 2015 were averaging 3.85%.
On a 30 year loan, $313,000 with that interest would come to $525,000 paid in total and a yearly payment of $17,500.
For the average Portland resident, with an income of $70,000 a year, that is pretty high, where it’d take about 25% of a person’s income to cover mortgage payments, before one lightbulbs electricity is paid for.
Diving deeper into that though, the average family can more easily afford that, where Portland has an average household income of $120,000.
Again, showing how the Simpson’s argument is fair, showing a single income home couldn’t afford a four bedroom home. Not even factoring in college yet.
Looking deeper into the $70,000 income though, that gets a little less clear.
$34,700 a year is the median salary for American’s ages 20-24.
$49,900 is the median for 25-34.
$58,600 is the median for 35-44.
Homer Simpson’s age is written as 38 years old in most episodes, with some saying 40.
Looking at how salaries increase with age, the average resident of Portland post 35 and before the age of 65, would have an income of over $80,000 a year.
This makes buying a home most years more realistic, for a single family earner.
Moving away from housing, there’s the point mentioned of someone without a college degree.
Wanted to just go through jobs which many doing them don’t have college degrees, but pay better on a national average.
Plumber-$50,600
Electrician-$51,800
Carpenter-$42,900
Welder-$43,000
Wind Turbine Technician-$56,000 “an energy job someone can get without a college degree, unlike a nuclear safety inspector”
All of these represent millions of jobs, available in the US, which many pay well and it’s important to factor in location and skill factor.
$75,000 is the salary for the top 25% of plumbers.
$75,000 is also the average for electricians.
Factoring in incomes being generally higher in Portland, both an electrician and a plumber in Portland can make over $100,000 by being in the top 25%, which generally would be the average for those over 40.
My general feeling is I feel there’s a type of viral media, designed to just go viral making people depressed off sad realities, which aren’t as sad as people think.
In 2022’s real estate climate, a plumber or electrician likely couldn’t get a four bedroom home in Portland.
But that’s an extreme example of a bubble, where I’m not even sold a lawyer, entry level doctor or computer programmer can get a home this year.
That’ll change and in the last 20 years, many skilled people without a college degree can get a four bedroom home in most parts of the US on one income.
Plus, it’s also weird when I see major websites discuss the Simpsons, when it’s about a high school dropout working an important job as a nuclear plant, who is poor, despite that salary averaging $150,000 a year nationally.
It’s basically people discussing the realities of a clear fiction.
