Chris, in Hillsdale the Assistant Manager position at the Wendy's...
Josiah Lippincott@jlippincott
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Jan 22, 2025
~2 min read
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Chris, in Hillsdale the Assistant Manager position at the Wendy's pays about $18 an hour. Over a year, that averages out to $37,440.
This is a screen shot of a random selection of homes for sale on Zillow in Hillsdale. Let's say he tries to buy that 2500 sq. ft. home for $215k.
If he puts down a 10% down payment ($21,500) the monthly payment would be $1800 a month. That is 60% of his PRE-TAX monthly paycheck.
There is simply no way that an assistant manager in Hillsdale is ever going to afford a mortgage for a nice family home in Hillsdale, much less save up for the down payment. It just isn't going to happen.
Hell, if this guy made a $70k salary, he would be hard pressed to pay for that house without his spouse working. That's why virtually everyone my age I know who bought a house did so with family help or inheritance money.
And, by the way, what does it mean for both spouses to be working? It means paying for child care, managing a daycare schedule, and both spouses coming home at the end of the day to care for the home and children. It is a heavy burden on both parents. It also means that your children get to be raised and educated by strangers unless you can get a babysitter in the home.
And, btw, all of this is happening as crime, homelessness, and infrastructure disintegration is accelerating. In Hillsdale, the city is so strapped for cash that if they pave the road in front of your house you as the homeowner get slammed with a $5,000 "special assessment" for the privilege of having a driveable road.
This is what downward mobility looks like. This is what a crisis of legitimacy looks like. This is the world confronting young people today.
This is a screen shot of a random selection of homes for sale on Zillow in Hillsdale. Let's say he tries to buy that 2500 sq. ft. home for $215k.
If he puts down a 10% down payment ($21,500) the monthly payment would be $1800 a month. That is 60% of his PRE-TAX monthly paycheck.
There is simply no way that an assistant manager in Hillsdale is ever going to afford a mortgage for a nice family home in Hillsdale, much less save up for the down payment. It just isn't going to happen.
Hell, if this guy made a $70k salary, he would be hard pressed to pay for that house without his spouse working. That's why virtually everyone my age I know who bought a house did so with family help or inheritance money.
And, by the way, what does it mean for both spouses to be working? It means paying for child care, managing a daycare schedule, and both spouses coming home at the end of the day to care for the home and children. It is a heavy burden on both parents. It also means that your children get to be raised and educated by strangers unless you can get a babysitter in the home.
And, btw, all of this is happening as crime, homelessness, and infrastructure disintegration is accelerating. In Hillsdale, the city is so strapped for cash that if they pave the road in front of your house you as the homeowner get slammed with a $5,000 "special assessment" for the privilege of having a driveable road.
This is what downward mobility looks like. This is what a crisis of legitimacy looks like. This is the world confronting young people today.
Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️@christopherrufo
@PedanticKilljoy @wanyeburkett This is basically "full employment." The Panda Express near my house is offering $70k/yr plus benefits for the assistant manager. You can make $100k/yr working at Chipotle for a few years and working up to store manager.
