Everyone knows prices are going up, but have you ever actually sat down and looked at just how much things have changed in the last 50 years? I was married in 1970, and before you ask—yes, Peggy still puts up with me. Our first house was a little bungalow we bought for $16,000, and I vividly remember sitting in a diner with Peg, sliding the salt shaker around like it was a mortgage calculator, trying to figure out whether we could really afford the $116 monthly payment—taxes and insurance included. It felt like a fortune.
Our $116 a month First House
Now fast-forward half a century to 2020 and try not to spill your coffee when you see how much everything has skyrocketed. In 1970, the average new home cost $23,450. By 2020, it was $323,700—an eye-popping increase of 1,280%. And just when you catch your breath, 2025 walks in and raises the stakes: the average new home is now $420,000, a 1,691% increase since 1970. If I saw that number while sitting in that old diner booth, I might’ve dropped my entire pot of coffee.
To show how wild things have become, look at the previous 50 years—1920 to 1970. Home prices rose from $6,296 to $23,450. That was a 272% increase over five decades. Today, we call that “a couple of good years in the housing market.”
Meanwhile, income has been jogging along far behind. In 1970, the average family income was $9,400. By 2020, it reached $59,600—a 534% bump. Respectable, sure, until you see what happened next. YCharts says 2025 brought income up to $105,946, a staggering 77% leap in just five years. Even the government blinked at that one.
Minimum wage tells its own sad little story—$2.10 an hour in 1970, crawling its way to $7.25 by 2020, a 225% increase… followed by absolutely nothing since. It hasn’t budged. Not a penny. Ouch is right.
And while we’re talking about things that have gone from painful to downright comical, coffee is next. In 1970, a cup of coffee averaged 15 cents—and came with free refills delivered by someone who called you “Hon.” Today that same basic cup averages $3.50. That’s a 2,233% increase, and you don’t even get free refills unless you beg.
But nothing—absolutely nothing—prepares you for car insurance. In 1970, it was around $120 a year. Today the national average hits $2,330 yearly. That’s a 19,317% increase. Yes, you read that right. Nineteen thousand percent. I can practically hear you shouting “OMG!” from here.
All of this is both entertaining and a little sobering. We joke about the old days—and trust me, I enjoy a good “back when gas was a quarter” story as much as the next guy—but real people are struggling to make the math work today.
Young families are sitting in their own diners right now, tapping numbers into their phones, trying to figure out how to afford their version of our $116 mortgage payment. The world changes, prices rise, incomes stretch, and somehow people still chase the dream of a home, a life, and a little stability. For all the jaw-dropping numbers in this story, that part hasn’t changed a bit.
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With more than 10,000 published articles on modular and offsite construction, Gary Fleisher remains one of the most trusted voices in the industry.
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