> "I am confident that somehow they can find new jobs in the boonies that will pay the same, or at least be no-worse versus other expenses, because... reasons."
The variability of housing prices is much higher than the variability of wages in most occupations, especially at the low end. So, yes.
Ghost towns? Median house in the USA is ~$410k (St Louis Fed) (and was $320k before the recent government-induced inflation), in WA that makes for a ~$2k mortgage payment including taxes and insurance (via Google calculator with 4+% rate; I think its property tax estimate is too large, actually). Slightly more with 10% down.
I'm pretty sure median house is located nearby a median job. Median household income in the USA is was $69k in 2019, $67k in 2020 (latest that I can find from a good source). By a common affordability metric, that makes $1.85k/mo perfectly affordable - 2k is almost there. I'm pretty sure nominal income increased in 2 years (given past trends), and of course 2019 median house was very affordable on 2019 median income.
Sorry, not everyone can live exactly where they want, mostly because too many people tend to want to live in the same places. That said, I think /another/ way government could get out of the way of progress is by repealing many/most zoning and related laws, so that more housing could be built.
The variability of housing prices is much higher than the variability of wages in most occupations, especially at the low end. So, yes.
Ghost towns? Median house in the USA is ~$410k (St Louis Fed) (and was $320k before the recent government-induced inflation), in WA that makes for a ~$2k mortgage payment including taxes and insurance (via Google calculator with 4+% rate; I think its property tax estimate is too large, actually). Slightly more with 10% down.
I'm pretty sure median house is located nearby a median job. Median household income in the USA is was $69k in 2019, $67k in 2020 (latest that I can find from a good source). By a common affordability metric, that makes $1.85k/mo perfectly affordable - 2k is almost there. I'm pretty sure nominal income increased in 2 years (given past trends), and of course 2019 median house was very affordable on 2019 median income.
Sorry, not everyone can live exactly where they want, mostly because too many people tend to want to live in the same places. That said, I think /another/ way government could get out of the way of progress is by repealing many/most zoning and related laws, so that more housing could be built.