Old affordability assumptions vs 2026 reality: what changed most in your city?

[Admin 0]

We have been revisiting our older city affordability models (income + rent + tax burden), and one pattern keeps repeating: rent pressure moved faster than wage growth in many places.

 

Where old assumptions seem to break first:

- The classic 30% rent rule is hard to hit for many people in the 60k to 85k salary range.

- Tax-friendly states still help take-home, but not enough to cancel fast rent growth.

- Two cities with similar salaries can produce very different post-rent cash flow.

 

If you tracked your own budget over the last 2 years, what changed most for you?

Rent, insurance, groceries, transport, or something else?

 

Curious to compare real lived experience vs spreadsheet assumptions.