What percentage of your income do you spend on housing?

[Radagast]

PITI on primary house 15% of gross
PITI on both houses 20% of gross
After adjusting for rent collected on 3 units in those houses (PITI - Rent) 0.7% of gross.
After adjusting for our share of all utilities, gas commuting to clown house, charging commuting time at $50/hr to house costs, home maintenance, etc. compared to net after-tax salary: net-net is 8%.

So I voted under 10%.

[Dicey]

Lol, I was so busy on my soapbox, I forgot to answer the survey. Until July 1, we are at 11-20%. Once DH's retirement is official and his pension kicks in, it will bump us UP to the 21-30% bracket. We plan to coast along on his pension and our cash cushion until we decide to pull the trigger on SS, at which point we'll drift back down to the 11-20% bracket. And that's just for taxes and insurance (TI), as we have no mortgage. We paid cash for our house nine years ago and it's doubled in value since. Welcome to California.

[poetdereves]

@Dicey you're definitely not wrong about the variability in a high vs low COL location. Depending on which list you read, I’m in the cheapest state in the entire United States for housing. Our house costs over double the median price for the state, but our income is five times the median amount. It’s all relative. We came here from California, and housing costs were one of the top reasons we chose to do so. The median home price here is triple the median income, but the median home price in California is almost 10x the median income. Pretty much a given that you’ll spend significantly more for living costs in a VHCOL compared to where I live, but it’s still possible to FIRE in either place. You just have to be more creative with your other costs. Remote work has made all the difference for us because we can work for companies in a VHCOL area and make a VHCOL salary with a LCOL location.

[Loren Ver]

Now that we are FIREd it is around 20% depending on what we make are income any particular year.  This year it should be around 20% since we are expecting a low income year.

When we bought the house when we were working ~2009 it was closer to 10%, which was another high point, as we were at our other lowest income. 

Loren

[ministashy]

Currently, 14% on mortgage, tho if you count HOA dues it's closer to 20%.  It was much higher when I bought the place (because I had a much lower salary), but it was literally what I could afford.  I live in a HCOL (which has only gotten worse, so am very happy to stick with my current place).

[simonsez]

I went from 9% (for nearly 2 decades) to 24% last summer. But, the value of my old home was higher than ever before, and the neighborhood had really gone down hill in the last few years, causing me to be concerned about safety. I was able to buy at a reasonable price and low interest (3.125)... now I'm on a cul-de-sac and my back yard borders preserved woodlands. I feel like I have hit the jackpot and it has improved my peace and mental health immeasurably! I am frugal across the boards and in normal circumstances I am still able to maintain my previous savings rate, so as bad as 24% seems, it's not always about that. The bill does not stress our budget.

Congratulations, @nyxst! I have always found threads like this incredibly frustrating. So many folks celebrate their low "stats", when they mostly live in LCOLAS. They keep their costs low easily because they have a myriad of choices. They are to be congratulated if they have selected the most affordable option in their area, but percentages don't necessarily tell the whole story.

Housing is a huge challenge when you live in a HCOLA and earn an average salary, or less. If you're frugal, you can spend far more on housing and still get to FIRE.  The housing component of my budget never fit within the "guidelines". By buying used cars, cooking my own meals, shopping CL, developing mad DIY skills, etc.,  even when my housing costs were nearly 40% of my gross, I could still live a great life and work toward my dream of freedom.

Tl;Dr: If you live in a HCOLA,  housing is more expensive. Don't beat yourself up or think that FIRE isn't possible.

To the OP: IMO, the wisest move may not be chasing the lowest statistic. Buying a single home that serves your family's short and long term needs might be the most strategic move. Buying, selling and moving is crazy expensive. Focus on buying the right house. Incomes tend to rise over time, so the percentages are going to change.

Why frustrating though?  You know you live in a HCOLA and assuming you're a rational actor, the benefits must outweigh the costs to relocate to somewhere more affordable housing-wise.  This is not a surprise that all else kinda equal, you're simply going to pay a higher % toward housing compared to those that do not live in a HCOL. 

I think it's a good thing to have clarity on what is possible or typical in different parts of the country/world.  We all have different needs and preferences not to mention varying household sizes.  As you say, a simple % is not that meaningful but the meaning is not zero, either. 

Housing is reasonable where I live - did that mean I bought as much house as the bank would let me to line up more so with national averages?  Of course not!  I bought what fit my needs.  The cost of real estate is a HUGE reason I live where I do while working remote for the same job I had when living and commuting in the DC area.  When I did live there, I could only afford to rent (a place half the size of current house but was twice as expensive!).  It was fine for a time but just felt like I was treading water in some aspects.  Moving away from the HCOL was a great move FOR ME, it very well could be a terrible choice for someone else given their needs.  To each their own.  I'm not judging anyone else's % nor trying to brag (definitely NOT trying to frustrate others at all) with my own.  It's just a number that occupies one category of my household's spending pie chart.

[Dicey]

I went from 9% (for nearly 2 decades) to 24% last summer. But, the value of my old home was higher than ever before, and the neighborhood had really gone down hill in the last few years, causing me to be concerned about safety. I was able to buy at a reasonable price and low interest (3.125)... now I'm on a cul-de-sac and my back yard borders preserved woodlands. I feel like I have hit the jackpot and it has improved my peace and mental health immeasurably! I am frugal across the boards and in normal circumstances I am still able to maintain my previous savings rate, so as bad as 24% seems, it's not always about that. The bill does not stress our budget.

Congratulations, @nyxst! I have always found threads like this incredibly frustrating. So many folks celebrate their low "stats", when they mostly live in LCOLAS. They keep their costs low easily because they have a myriad of choices. They are to be congratulated if they have selected the most affordable option in their area, but percentages don't necessarily tell the whole story.

Housing is a huge challenge when you live in a HCOLA and earn an average salary, or less. If you're frugal, you can spend far more on housing and still get to FIRE.  The housing component of my budget never fit within the "guidelines". By buying used cars, cooking my own meals, shopping CL, developing mad DIY skills, etc.,  even when my housing costs were nearly 40% of my gross, I could still live a great life and work toward my dream of freedom.

Tl;Dr: If you live in a HCOLA,  housing is more expensive. Don't beat yourself up or think that FIRE isn't possible.

To the OP: IMO, the wisest move may not be chasing the lowest statistic. Buying a single home that serves your family's short and long term needs might be the most strategic move. Buying, selling and moving is crazy expensive. Focus on buying the right house. Incomes tend to rise over time, so the percentages are going to change.

Why frustrating though?  You know you live in a HCOLA and assuming you're a rational actor, the benefits must outweigh the costs to relocate to somewhere more affordable housing-wise.  This is not a surprise that all else kinda equal, you're simply going to pay a higher % toward housing compared to those that do not live in a HCOL. 

I think it's a good thing to have clarity on what is possible or typical in different parts of the country/world.  We all have different needs and preferences not to mention varying household sizes.  As you say, a simple % is not that meaningful but the meaning is not zero, either. 

Housing is reasonable where I live - did that mean I bought as much house as the bank would let me to line up more so with national averages?  Of course not!  I bought what fit my needs.  The cost of real estate is a HUGE reason I live where I do while working remote for the same job I had when living and commuting in the DC area.  When I did live there, I could only afford to rent (a place half the size of current house but was twice as expensive!).  It was fine for a time but just felt like I was treading water in some aspects.  Moving away from the HCOL was a great move FOR ME, it very well could be a terrible choice for someone else given their needs.  To each their own.  I'm not judging anyone else's % nor trying to brag (definitely NOT trying to frustrate others at all) with my own.  It's just a number that occupies one category of my household's spending pie chart.

It always reminds me of the line, "Some people are born on third base and think they hit a triple." It's easy to brag on your low number if you live where there are lots of choices in a variety of price ranges. It's fine to brag on that if it makes you happy. What's less so is when people are critical of others who have higher numbers due to factors beyond their scope. It doesn't automatically make anyone a "better" mustachian, but some do seem to take it as proof.

I love my home state for lots of reasons. No place is perfect. We've made an awesome life for ourselves, so moving is not on our radar, nor does it need to be. My point is you can still get to FIRE even if you're not a high wage earner and you live in a HCOLA. Spending a higher percentage of your income where prices consistently appreciate is not a bad decision. I mentioned my current home's value has doubled in nine years. It's not the first time that's happened. Once it took less than four years. If I crunched the numbers, I'm pretty sure at least $2M of my NW is in real estate appreciation alone.

Raw percentage to income may not be the most important metric.

[ohio4life]

I pay 2,000 a month. 1,000 of that is principal payment. The rest is interest, taxes and insurance. So It is about 10 percent of our gross income, but 1,000 is "savings" if that matters.

Despite that number being quite low, my overall housing costs are about 50% to 60% of my spending year after year. I'm including utilities and home improvement in my housing costs. It has been as low as 43% since 2017 when I started tracking this. I should be closer to 40% this year as I don't have any major house projects on the horizon..........yet

[thesis]

Before I quit my job to take a year off, I was paying about 10.5% of net income in rent, but the cheap rent I'm paying is pretty rare here in Colorado, which could be considered an HCOL these days.

This has been great, as it has allowed me to max out my retirement accounts for several years and get the FIRE ball rolling. It also allows me to post on threads like this and feel like I still fit within the popular FIRE metrics. However, I plan to move closer to family next year, and will probably move into my own apartment at that time, which will cost more. I've learned that I strongly prefer a larger living space for comfortably having groups of friends over, so that could affect things, too. I have no doubt there are ways to achieve this while keeping costs down, but I'm having to ask myself if not keeping up appearances and possibly being able to invest less are worth having the extra space for company, and I suspect they will be. It might just mean losing face and having to bite the 25% bullet, or something like that.

[Dicey]

Before I quit my job to take a year off, I was paying about 10.5% of net income in rent, but the cheap rent I'm paying is pretty rare here in Colorado, which could be considered an HCOL these days.

This has been great, as it has allowed me to max out my retirement accounts for several years and get the FIRE ball rolling. It also allows me to post on threads like this and feel like I still fit within the popular FIRE metrics. However, I plan to move closer to family next year, and will probably move into my own apartment at that time, which will cost more. I've learned that I strongly prefer a larger living space for comfortably having groups of friends over, so that could affect things, too. I have no doubt there are ways to achieve this while keeping costs down, but I'm having to ask myself if not keeping up appearances and possibly being able to invest less are worth having the extra space for company, and I suspect they will be. It might just mean losing face and having to bite the 25% bullet, or something like that.

If having space to entertain friends is important to you and the rest of your budget and savings targets are being met, why not? My dining room table (purchased used) is eleven feet long with no leaves. If twenty hungry mustachians showed up at my door, I could have dinner ready in about thirty minutes and no disposables would be used. If you're entertaining just to create impression, maybe not so much.

[thesis]

Before I quit my job to take a year off, I was paying about 10.5% of net income in rent, but the cheap rent I'm paying is pretty rare here in Colorado, which could be considered an HCOL these days.

This has been great, as it has allowed me to max out my retirement accounts for several years and get the FIRE ball rolling. It also allows me to post on threads like this and feel like I still fit within the popular FIRE metrics. However, I plan to move closer to family next year, and will probably move into my own apartment at that time, which will cost more. I've learned that I strongly prefer a larger living space for comfortably having groups of friends over, so that could affect things, too. I have no doubt there are ways to achieve this while keeping costs down, but I'm having to ask myself if not keeping up appearances and possibly being able to invest less are worth having the extra space for company, and I suspect they will be. It might just mean losing face and having to bite the 25% bullet, or something like that.

If having space to entertain friends is important to you and the rest of your budget and savings targets are being met, why not? My dining room table (purchased used) is eleven feet long with no leaves. If twenty hungry mustachians showed up at my door, I could have dinner ready in about thirty minutes and no disposables would be used. If you're entertaining just to create impression, maybe not so much.

Nice! Yeah, for me it's just a matter of knowing several people can turn up and all be seated very comfortably. My current situation sort of allows this, but it isn't too comfortable. If I do move into my own apartment next year, I'm definitely prioritizing living room space if I can (couldn't care less about bedroom space). It might mean not being in the "hard core" mustachian living arrangement cohort, and I might feel a little sad I'm not able to save as much, but I think the tradeoff would still be worth it :) . But who knows? When the time comes I might find a good deal, too.

[ender]

The percentage has gone down as my income goes up.

It's meaningfully below 10% gross now.

[Luke Warm]

we're about 21% which is crazy to me. our wind insurance is the driving factor here. it ain't cheap living in an old house on the gulf coast.

[simonsez]

I went from 9% (for nearly 2 decades) to 24% last summer. But, the value of my old home was higher than ever before, and the neighborhood had really gone down hill in the last few years, causing me to be concerned about safety. I was able to buy at a reasonable price and low interest (3.125)... now I'm on a cul-de-sac and my back yard borders preserved woodlands. I feel like I have hit the jackpot and it has improved my peace and mental health immeasurably! I am frugal across the boards and in normal circumstances I am still able to maintain my previous savings rate, so as bad as 24% seems, it's not always about that. The bill does not stress our budget.

Congratulations, @nyxst! I have always found threads like this incredibly frustrating. So many folks celebrate their low "stats", when they mostly live in LCOLAS. They keep their costs low easily because they have a myriad of choices. They are to be congratulated if they have selected the most affordable option in their area, but percentages don't necessarily tell the whole story.

Housing is a huge challenge when you live in a HCOLA and earn an average salary, or less. If you're frugal, you can spend far more on housing and still get to FIRE.  The housing component of my budget never fit within the "guidelines". By buying used cars, cooking my own meals, shopping CL, developing mad DIY skills, etc.,  even when my housing costs were nearly 40% of my gross, I could still live a great life and work toward my dream of freedom.

Tl;Dr: If you live in a HCOLA,  housing is more expensive. Don't beat yourself up or think that FIRE isn't possible.

To the OP: IMO, the wisest move may not be chasing the lowest statistic. Buying a single home that serves your family's short and long term needs might be the most strategic move. Buying, selling and moving is crazy expensive. Focus on buying the right house. Incomes tend to rise over time, so the percentages are going to change.

Why frustrating though?  You know you live in a HCOLA and assuming you're a rational actor, the benefits must outweigh the costs to relocate to somewhere more affordable housing-wise.  This is not a surprise that all else kinda equal, you're simply going to pay a higher % toward housing compared to those that do not live in a HCOL. 

I think it's a good thing to have clarity on what is possible or typical in different parts of the country/world.  We all have different needs and preferences not to mention varying household sizes.  As you say, a simple % is not that meaningful but the meaning is not zero, either. 

Housing is reasonable where I live - did that mean I bought as much house as the bank would let me to line up more so with national averages?  Of course not!  I bought what fit my needs.  The cost of real estate is a HUGE reason I live where I do while working remote for the same job I had when living and commuting in the DC area.  When I did live there, I could only afford to rent (a place half the size of current house but was twice as expensive!).  It was fine for a time but just felt like I was treading water in some aspects.  Moving away from the HCOL was a great move FOR ME, it very well could be a terrible choice for someone else given their needs.  To each their own.  I'm not judging anyone else's % nor trying to brag (definitely NOT trying to frustrate others at all) with my own.  It's just a number that occupies one category of my household's spending pie chart.

It always reminds me of the line, "Some people are born on third base and think they hit a triple." It's easy to brag on your low number if you live where there are lots of choices in a variety of price ranges. It's fine to brag on that if it makes you happy. What's less so is when people are critical of others who have higher numbers due to factors beyond their scope. It doesn't automatically make anyone a "better" mustachian, but some do seem to take it as proof.

I love my home state for lots of reasons. No place is perfect. We've made an awesome life for ourselves, so moving is not on our radar, nor does it need to be. My point is you can still get to FIRE even if you're not a high wage earner and you live in a HCOLA. Spending a higher percentage of your income where prices consistently appreciate is not a bad decision. I mentioned my current home's value has doubled in nine years. It's not the first time that's happened. Once it took less than four years. If I crunched the numbers, I'm pretty sure at least $2M of my NW is in real estate appreciation alone.

Raw percentage to income may not be the most important metric.

It seems like you didn't read my post or at least aren't responding directly to it and seem hellbent on making claims about people bragging in this thread (and even replied to me about bragging yet again when I had said that wasn't my intent [perception matters but so should intent]) and admonishing others whilst polishing their Mustachian credentials.  I just don't see it that way.  I see people simply answering the OP's question about a number that has such a wide range of interpretation, context, and meaning.  Who is being critical of others?  Who is bragging and saying they are better than others simply because their vague and nebulous number is lower than someone else's vague and nebulous number?  It seems like a pretty innocuous thread.

Let me give this a Dicey-esque whirl on the most recent bold text above:
Quotes like this are frustrating to those that live in LCOLAs.  So many folks celebrate their high "stats", exploding net worths due to real estate appreciation, when they mostly live in HCOLAs.  Their NWs keep going up because they have a myriad of choices in their highly desirable places to live.  They are to be congratulated if they have selected a property that explodes in value, but rising real estate values don't necessarily tell the whole story.

Not having your NW experience a meteoric rise can be a challenge when you live in a LCOLA with a property that doesn't noticeably appreciate that much and earn an average salary, or less.

See?  This is fun!  I would never go to a thread dedicated to talking about real estate appreciation and complain how all the HCOLA people are bragging and that it's unfair to the LCOLA peeps, that's just distracting.

I don't understand the born on 3rd base sentiment as it pertains to where you live or why that would be connected to anything I wrote.  Where you live is a choice unless you're a child or in an extreme scenario (incapacitated, war, famine, human trafficking, etc.) that you have little control over - and this is just a hunch but I don't think many of those people under duress would be replying to this thread.  Thus, there can be some extremely compelling reasons to live in a particular area (or to not move to others) and that's great (or terrible, depending), but if you don't have a gun to your head, it's a choice.  Maybe I'm not following your meaning, though.  If you think that humans as a species are not that mobile and are pretty much stuck where they live now, I disagree with that and find that sentiment frustrating.  My turn to get off the soapbox.

[Dicey]

I originally responded to someone else. I wasn't singling you out, I was responding to your specific question.

I have been on this forum for over a decade. This topic has come up countless times. I sure could use one of @RWD's magnificent lists right about now.

While I did grumble, my larger point is that "I only pay a [ TINY ] percentage of my income for housing" isn't the only way to achieve FIRE.

A person with badass mustachian skills can pretty much achieve FIRE anywhere they want to.

[RWD]

I have been on this forum for over a decade. This topic has come up countless times. I sure could use one of @RWD's magnificent lists right about now.

Don't ask me to do your dirty work. While there are a ton of threads where people have asked for advice on how much they should spend on housing I was only able to find one thread polling others for how much they are actually spending (quick search, non-exhaustive, no warranty).
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/what-percent-of-your-income-do-you-spend-on-rent-or-mortgage/

Compared to that thread from 6 years ago it seems a lot more members are spending 10% or less now. But also a small percentage more are in the 30-40% range. Maybe the middle-ground is eroding?

[HPstache]

Just under 20% .  So thankful I bought my house in early 2014...

[Dicey]

I have been on this forum for over a decade. This topic has come up countless times. I sure could use one of @RWD's magnificent lists right about now.

Don't ask me to do your dirty work. While there are a ton of threads where people have asked for advice on how much they should spend on housing I was only able to find one thread polling others for how much they are actually spending (quick search, non-exhaustive, no warranty).
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/what-percent-of-your-income-do-you-spend-on-rent-or-mortgage/

Compared to that thread from 6 years ago it seems a lot more members are spending 10% or less now. But also a small percentage more are in the 30-40% range. Maybe the middle-ground is eroding?

RWD, I really admire your lists and have always wondered how you [typically] get such great results. I'd love to know how you do it, even if this didn't turn up much. Oh, wait, it did. You mean all those "tons of threads" you found don't count because the question was worded slightly differently?

Thanks for responding...good thing I didn't buy the extended warranty ;-).

[Jules Anne]

16% but I live in a HCOL area.

[ATtiny85]

Well under 10%. Our mortgage is mid five figures at 2.0%. Property taxes are the biggest chunk by far.

We put about 6x more in VTSAX in taxable every year than housing. I am hoping to get to 10x in a couple years.

[pasadenafr]

My rent is about 14% of my base gross income (base salary + bonus, not including RSUs), 56.8% of my monthly budget, and 50% of my annual expenses including stuff not in the normal monthly budget.

Didn't include renter's insurance because it's so cheap it doesn't move the needle. Those are my only housing expenses, and I'm in a HCOL (Seattle).

[We be free if we try]

Around 35% on rent, from SWR as recent retiree, VHCOL. I don’t regret it at the moment, though probably won’t spend like this forever. (Technically my current spending is going over SWR a little.) We live in an incredibly beautiful area, quiet and peaceful, with hiking out the back door. More room than we need on a daily basis, so the college kids can still come home and stay with us. I figure I’ll regroup in 3 or 4 years once they’re more launched, and/or we’ll move to a less pricey area eventually.

[eyesonthehorizon]

More data/ discussion is always fun, but I'm unclear on the utility of the results, considering that the sample is likely to consist of a mix of frugal FIREes, who may have quite low income by tax-efficient design, & SWAMIs who are likely unusually-high income (as mustachians at large tend to be at least above average, with some outliers).

Had the question asked what percentage of expenses was spent on housing I could see more applications for the data, although fewer than if it came with COL details.

Housing makes up close to 60% of my spending, which is down quite a bit from a few years prior, though my spending total hasn't really changed (a combination of very slightly higher utilities from much more climate-controlled space & some other luxuries, mostly more fresh leafy stuff in the grocery budget.)

[kay02]

About 5% depending how you calculate it.

[sparkytheop]

11% of base gross pay.  OT is double-time, so it adds up and definitely shrinks the ratio of PITI to gross income when I work it.  One day of OT (gross) is more than PITI.

[Gerard]

About 8.5% of our household income goes to paying rent (including utilities, phone, internet). Gives us a lot of flexibility if something else goes wonky (income down, inflation up, etc.).

Although writing about this makes me question the "renting is good because owning ties you to one place" argument. It would take freakin' dynamite to get us out of our sweet-deal rent-controlled apartment. That maybe makes us a bit like homeowners who won't/can't move.

[Loretta]

I have a 10 year mortgage so it’s a lotta money but worth it to me to be mortgage-free when I retire circa 2027. 

[poetdereves]

@eyesonthehorizon it is a fun discussion, but of course the utility of it is so that I can compare myself to everyone else and feel either good or bad about my spending and my general self-worth based on where I fall in the curve.

I'm just playing. No real utility and a lot of random variability based on where people are in their working years. The few in here that have already FIREd seem to spend a bigger portion on living since they may not have any income past their SWR at all. I figured that would happen, but it does help me see what may be coming in the future as I try to FIRE.

It's also interesting to poll on MMM for me because there is typically a higher income crowd. All of the articles and blogs I have read about it kind of assumes the $60k average annual salary for a household or whatever, but that just isn't the case here. I would bet a majority of the people on this forum are in (or were in before FIRE) the top 5-10% of income earners.

[theninthwall]

We moved to Tampa in 2020 for my wife's work. It was during the pandemic, so I think the unsure nature of the future helped us get a good deal at the time. We were paying $1500 for a studio (a little over 500 square feet) in a new apartment building with all the little luxuries, right on the river in the middle of the city and a five minute walk to my wife's work, meaning we went down to one car.
As renewed in 2021 at $1650, and shortly afterwards my wife was given permission to work fully remotely. In the last year Tampa has gone crazy, just extremely busy everywhere. We pretty much decided we would move back to north Florida.
Our latest rent 'offer' has confirmed this. They are lifting it to almost $2300 a month - for a 500sf studio!! So we are moving back to north Florida. Rent has gone crazy there too, but at least we won't be looking over $2k.
I do kick myself for not buying property back in 2019, but that's easy to say with a crystal ball. We generally find ourselves moving a lot and I'm sure this won't be the last time, so perhaps renting is not so bad on the flexibility side.

[windytrail]

I spend 10% on rent in one of the most expensive housing markets in the country. My share of rent is $920 ($1,840/mo split with partner) and my monthly income is $9,090. We live in a small 1 bedroom apartment on rent control.

Salaries are high here and if you can find a place with rent control then it provides a ton of security. MMM has written extensively about levering high salaries in the city to your advantage. The key is living below your means, avoiding clown cars, and resisting the urge of lifestyle inflation. Standard Mustachianism principles.

For example: the coin-op laundry machines in our building are these terrible top-loaders that destroy our clothes while simultaneously not cleaning them very well. We dream of having in-unit front-loading machines, but how much more per month would that cost? Realistically we'd need to pay at least $600/mo more for a nicer apartment with the bells and whistles. Our solution is to go once a month to the laundromat and pay $10 to use their fanciest, luxurious SpeedKing commercial washer, using the bike trailer to transport the laundry. $10 < $600.

[BlueHouse]

I'm sorry, I misread the question and now I can't seem to change my poll response. I spend >41% of spending on housing, not of income. Big difference...

ME TOO!!!  I did the same thing. 

[TheAnonOne]

20-25% depending on that month's income on a very large house.

We have a 2.75% 30 year locked in, inflation should pay the thing off for us.

[PDXTabs]

I just sold my house and moved in with some other adults (I'm renting, one of them owns the house, some of them I'm related to). Starting next month 6% of my gross salary goes to housing if you include my storage unit but not my insurance. But I plan to use a substantial portion of my savings on housing for travel.

[Michael in ABQ]

About 20-25% of our income goes to rent (hard to say what our exact income is as it's our first year being self-employed). However, that's renting a house for 8 people - so we're not getting by with a 1–2-bedroom apartment.

[SinnahSaint]

Income about $125k/yr
Rent about $1025/mo = $12,500/yr
12500/125000 = 10%

(numbers rounded to make the math easy)

[Chippewa]

Single income family, 25% of the gross income for a 3b older home.

[Zikoris]

I spend 10% on rent in one of the most expensive housing markets in the country. My share of rent is $920 ($1,840/mo split with partner) and my monthly income is $9,090. We live in a small 1 bedroom apartment on rent control.

Salaries are high here and if you can find a place with rent control then it provides a ton of security. MMM has written extensively about levering high salaries in the city to your advantage. The key is living below your means, avoiding clown cars, and resisting the urge of lifestyle inflation. Standard Mustachianism principles.

For example: the coin-op laundry machines in our building are these terrible top-loaders that destroy our clothes while simultaneously not cleaning them very well. We dream of having in-unit front-loading machines, but how much more per month would that cost? Realistically we'd need to pay at least $600/mo more for a nicer apartment with the bells and whistles. Our solution is to go once a month to the laundromat and pay $10 to use their fanciest, luxurious SpeedKing commercial washer, using the bike trailer to transport the laundry. $10 < $600.

Curious how long you've been in a rent controlled place as $1840 seems very low for a 1 bedroom in the Bay area. Studios and even room rentals (with private baths) down here in coastal OC are often going for that much and one bedrooms are above $2k to $3k easy.  For lower income earners that would take a big percent of their income. TBH I'd like to see more people posting how much they pay and what they get for that as percent of income doesn't tell us much.

Our 13% is $847/month and that gets us a nice 400 square foot studio apartment in Vancouver walking distance to everything.

[glacio09]

About 8.5% of our household income goes to paying rent (including utilities, phone, internet). Gives us a lot of flexibility if something else goes wonky (income down, inflation up, etc.).

Although writing about this makes me question the "renting is good because owning ties you to one place" argument. It would take freakin' dynamite to get us out of our sweet-deal rent-controlled apartment. That maybe makes us a bit like homeowners who won't/can't move.

That's were my husband and I are at. He moved into a nice (but rental quality fixtured) townhouse ten years ago with his now ex-wife. The lady who owns it is grandfathered into the fixed costs like HOA, property taxes, and insurance so she's decided it's better to keep us in there at the price he started with than to kick us out and having to renovate. We pay about the same in rent as we would have to pay for those three things on a house or condo of our own, not including the mortgage at all. I told my husband I don't care if his ex is haunting the place, we would burn sage or have an exorcism to keep this very sweet deal.

It works out at about 6% of gross pay. I put the amount that a mortgage would cost into investments every month, so if she were to pass (may she live a long and happy life) we can easily buy a place to move into.

[poetdereves]

@spartana our 14% costs us $2,467.83 monthly and gets us a 4/3 with an office and pool on a half acre. We are in a LCOL city in the South. I am interested to see what people get for what they pay. I'd be fine living in a van parked in the woods somewhere and DW grew up with a bedroom and two separate play rooms just for herself. We met in the middle somewhere I guess and don't really see us going any larger or more expensive than this, while our income continues to climb and shrink that 14% down into the single digits hopefully.

[Michael in ABQ]

$1,750/month get us a 2,600 SF 5-BD/3.5-BA in a typical suburban neighborhood in Albuquerque. Not easy finding 5-bedroom houses for rent (that aren't starting at $3k+/month). There's just not as many homes being built that size as the average household size steadily shrinks. And even fewer for rent.

[fire_escape]

My mortgage & taxes & insurance are currently 6.5% of my gross income.

 I chose a mortgage that would require the average household income in my city to purchase. I earn about 4x that, so I figured that would be a nice way to anchor my lifestyle to a reasonable standard and avoid pressure from the Joneses.

My goal is to retire on about 57% of the average household income here, and I’m undecided about whether I’ll sell my house, move, etc. My PITI would be about 44% of my living expenses, at that point, which is hard to stomach. But my mortgage is only 3% interest, so it’s hard to justify paying it off early. I might find a housemate or some other creative way to offset the cost, if I keep it.

(I’m in a MCOL city, about 7% below the nation’s average.)

[trc4897]

Looks like wife and I are around 7%. LCOL area so the house was pretty cheap (157k in 2017) which helps explain the low percentage

[roomtempmayo]

Thanks^^ I find that kind of info (same from @Zikoris ) to be really helpful when thinking about where (and how) others here live. As well as where I'd like to live.

I'll add a few details, since I agree it's interesting to see the math in other places.

We live in a mid-sized, mid-cost, upper midwestern city.  In just about every way, it's very close to national averages.

In 2018, we bought a 1300 sq ft (3/2) SFH in a nice old neighborhood within sight of the downtown skyline for $265k.  Our lot is small (50x100), but we have three parks within easy walking distance.  Both my wife and I are within three miles of work, and have good bike and transit infrastructure to both workplaces.  We cut down to one car as a direct result of buying into our particular location.  The neighborhood elementary school is solid generally (while significantly unequal across demographics), but the middle and high schools are not draws.  Property taxes are north of $4k now.

Our income last year was about $193k, and our mortgage + insurance + taxes were/are $19,346 (1613/mo) which is 10.03%.

However, we have probably spent about $5k/year on maintenance, so a rent equivalent is probably more like $24,346/year, which is 12.61%.

[okisok]

About 23%* for mortgage, insurance, taxes, etc. It was just under 30% until two months ago when I got a higher-paying job. I plan to be here for a while.

*Does not include any side hustles or rebates, just main income paycheck.

[Civex]

9-10% of gross , 15 year note (refinanced during Covid drop), purchased about 8 years ago. LCOL is a huge help, but purchase price was 25% below state average for the year. We have been super tempted to upgrade, but increased taxes and rates have helped us stay rational. Trying to remember we will be mortgage free no later than 44 if we stay.

[englishteacheralex]

Just so everyone can feel good about their choices by comparison to us...

I'm going to put our gross income at around $15000/month. Our mortgage (30 year, 2.99% interest) plus HOA is 4050/month. So I guess our housing expenses are 27% of our gross.

We live in a 1400 sf townhouse with two kids. We upgraded in January from an 850 sf condo that was only costing us 15% of our gross/month.

That's Hawaii! Mustachians, do not move here!

[E.T.]

High income living in a HCOL area, PITI is about 11% of our gross income. If my spouse switches to stay at home parent, we'll be at 22% of my gross income.

[bacchi]

~3% of spending for PITI+all utilities in a HCOL area.

But we're house hacking by living in the ADU and renting out the main house. The ADU is smaller but newer and much better insulated.

[gaja]

Compared to ordinary paycheck only:

Principle: No minimum payment required, but if we choose to pay it down over 30 years: 4 %
Interest: 4 %
Taxes: No
Insurance: .7%
Property related income: 15 %
Total: surplus of 6.3 %

But all of surplus goes into renovations and maintainance, together with a substantial part of the ordinary paycheck.

[windytrail]

I spend 10% on rent in one of the most expensive housing markets in the country. My share of rent is $920 ($1,840/mo split with partner) and my monthly income is $9,090. We live in a small 1 bedroom apartment on rent control.

Salaries are high here and if you can find a place with rent control then it provides a ton of security. MMM has written extensively about levering high salaries in the city to your advantage. The key is living below your means, avoiding clown cars, and resisting the urge of lifestyle inflation. Standard Mustachianism principles.

For example: the coin-op laundry machines in our building are these terrible top-loaders that destroy our clothes while simultaneously not cleaning them very well. We dream of having in-unit front-loading machines, but how much more per month would that cost? Realistically we'd need to pay at least $600/mo more for a nicer apartment with the bells and whistles. Our solution is to go once a month to the laundromat and pay $10 to use their fanciest, luxurious SpeedKing commercial washer, using the bike trailer to transport the laundry. $10 < $600.

Curious how long you've been in a rent controlled place as $1840 seems very low for a 1 bedroom in the Bay area. Studios and even room rentals (with private baths) down here in coastal OC are often going for that much and one bedrooms are above $2k to $3k easy.  For lower income earners that would take a big percent of their income. TBH I'd like to see more people posting how much they pay and what they get for that as percent of income doesn't tell us much.

Yeah, you'd be surprised. We have only been here since Jan of 2020. The landlord was direct with us: they rent units slightly below market rate in exchange for having to deal with old pipes, crappy laundry machines, etc. For the entire first year of the pandemic our building had more vacancies and they were asking for even less that what we're paying.  Rents now are only starting to match the rents from pre-pandemic and our building complex always has several vacancies.

Sure, higher priced apartments are more common and the easiest to find, no doubt, but there are always bargains out there. I bike about 5mi each way to work. Most of my colleagues live farther away from the office and drive in. When I ask why they don't want to live closer, they almost invariably cite getting a larger apartment/house for the money. This shows us that it is never necessary to live in the suburbs. Rather, it's all about priorities.