"Looking at each goal in isolation can lead to gaps in planning. For example, a couple might build two budgets that each seem manageable individually, but don't reflect what happens when both sets of costs hit at the same time."
Over half of Americans, 60%, say a weeklong vacation is unaffordable-and even 49% report the small joy of going out to dinner is out of their budgets. Around 74% also say buying a new car is too expensive, but beyond these commonplace "luxuries," U.S. adults are battling the exorbitant costs of everyday essentials.
The cost rose a lot following the pandemic. And some of that was supply chain issues that really increased the costs, and then they didn't quite come back down. And now tariffs are also impacting some products. These costs are part of the reason the amount of new rental housing stock is shrinking.
Perhaps the best that can be said for the plight of California renters is that it could be worse. My trusty spreadsheet reviewed monthly rents and hourly wage data collected by United Way, comparing 2024 with 2019 for 96 U.S. metropolitan areas, including nine in California. Those statistics show that paychecks are not keeping up with monthly rent payments, both in California and nationwide.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, rents have jumped nearly 28% in past five years. Companies such as Flex, Livble and, more recently, Affirm, say breaking rent into multiple payments can help renters manage cash flow. But consumer advocates warn the products typically function like short-term loans, layering fees onto already strained budgets and, in some cases, carrying triple-digit effective interest rates - raising questions about whether they ease financial pressure or deepen it.
By comparing home values, mortgage rates and household incomes, Attom determined the share of income devoured by a home purchase. Splitting those 36 counties into three slices helps show how the homebuying burden has changed from 2025's fourth quarter to Not-so-recent lows in buying's financial burden - a decade-plus ago, just after the Great Recession slashed prices. Yes, affordability may be improving in early 2026, but these figures highlight how far affordability has fallen.
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