After my mom’s death my brother and I disposed of her belongings and home. We met some nice young couples during that process.
A pair of about 20 years olds stopped by to pick-up housewares for their first home together. We offered them what they wanted from the free furniture section of the garage, but with home being a trailer in Franklin County mom’s stuff just took up too much room.
A young married couple really liked the house. What wasn’t to like: classic three-bedroom all-brick ranch with three baths and a large lot in a good location. Though a bit dated, the house had good bones. Our realtor helped set a fair price – which the young couple (despite two good jobs) couldn’t quite reach without us carrying a second mortgage for a decade.
That classic American dream – a family with a nice home, a decent car, kids and all – always eluded many people. Still, generations lived the dream, especially about St. Louis.
Except, well, the dream seems to be ending for many more of the current generation.
Start with housing. Per Realtor.com, the median home price in Missouri is about $285,000. In many parts of metro St. Louis, a home under $400,000 is rare. Even that $285,000 place equates to a monthly payment above $2,200 without property taxes. Follow the rule of three and a family needs a steady income of $79,000. Go for the preferrable mortgage at a fourth of income and you’re over $105,000 a year.
Of course, you need a car. The New Tork Times (4/19/26) noted that the average new car price now exceeds $50,000 and just four models (two Korean, two Japanese) are available for around $25,000. If you have an average family, you probably need an average size car, meaning even if you finance the wheels for 84 months your cost approaches $800 a month. (That’s $9,600 a year.)
I like kids, I‘m scared when I hear that the cost of daycare runs from $17,000 to $20,000 a year. (I thought the cost was exorbitant almost 40 years ago.)
Put the pieces together and to have a stable, typical classic middle-class lifestyle takes $100,000+ a year…too bad the median family income in Missouri is around $71,000 per year [census.gov Quick Facts for 2024].
Ugly reality time. Half of all families have an income below the median. True, just as half of all Missourians are below average in most everything, well, per the Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP.org) report on Missouri, 40% of our state’s families struggle to survive on less than $44,000 per year.
Remember, many business leaders condemn Missouri’s $15.00 per hour minimum wage. Yet, even with a fulltime job that comes out to just $31,200 a year. If both parents work fulltime, they still fall way below that median – and live impossibly below the level necessary to buy a house or a decent car or ever take a vacation.
That brings up another trend in the media, stories on young adults still living at home with mom and dad. A recent piece puts the number at one in three “kids” still at home. [visualcapitalist.com 4-6-26]
Again, not everyone got to live the American Dream in the good old days of the 1960’s or 1970’s. Alas, all dreams end.
Glenn Koenen
Image generated with Microsoft CoPilot