I have no intentions of leaving Utah, unless I'm absolutely forced to. It's my home, I've made too many friends, I was born here, I love the public transportation here in Salt Lake, I love the outdoors, and I love camping. However, since 2006, my parent's home went from being worth $350k to now being valued at well over $1.2 million. And the same goes for most the state, especially in the populated areas. And rent isn't a whole lot better, as rent here is hovering around $2,000 for a studio apartment in Salt Lake City, unless of course I want to live in an extremely dangerous area of the city, or if I want to live in an apartment from 1920…
At this point, most millionaires can hardly afford to buy a home here. I did the math, and assuming I wanted to be a rent slave, I'd need to work for a job 40 hours/week at a pay of at least $20/hr if I want to think about living paycheck-to-paycheck. $25-$30 might allow me to live comfortably. And that's before taxes, and assuming rent doesn't increase faster than my paycheck.
I am genuinely considering paying my parents to renovate our house to accommodate me living in their basement, with a full kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and stuff like that.
THE AMERICAN DREAM IS DEAD.