The Simpsons debuted in 1987 and this is the type of house the shows creators thought a single-income family could afford. According to an episode in Season 1, Homer made 25k a year(60k in 2026 dollars). In 1987 that house would cost about 100k(which was the national average) with a mortgage of roughly $700/month(assuming 20% down and interest rates consistent with that time) How about today? The same house would cost 450k with a mortgage of roughly $2,500/month. This means that while Homer was spending ~30% of his income on his mortgage in 1987 he would need to spend closer to 50% of his income on his mortgage today. And of course, this doesn't include other areas of inflation such as food, gas or etc.