These Gen Xers Put Off Buying a Home-Now They See How Good They Had It

When Brian Gorman started working as a bagger at 14, he was paid almost double the federal minimum wage. The Massachusetts teen soon got a second job teaching guitar, and within a few short years had a healthy savings pot.

But it wasn’t money for a new iPhone or spring break with friends. This was 1994, and by working a couple of side jobs while living at home with his parents, Gorman remembers realizing he had enough money for “a healthy down payment” on a home at the time.

As a younger Gen Xer, Gorman shares a lot of life experiences with millennials, a generation famous for their inability to own property due to soaring home prices and relatively stagnant wages. Gen Zers, the eldest of whom will turn 30 next year, are facing an even steeper road to home ownership.

While to younger generations Gorman’s experience-he passed up the opportunity to buy a home in his early 20s-may seem unfathomable, many Gen Xers were adults at a time when the cost of housing relative to income was low enough that an average salary could cover things like living alone in a metropolitan city or buying a home-without it seeming like a huge luxury.

In recent decades, inflation has driven up the cost of everyday items like groceries and utilities, but for many Americans, salaries have not kept up. Meanwhile, the cost of housing has soared far higher than income has, leaving people in the same jobs, making the same salary in today’s equivalent, far worse off in the housing market than ever before.

To understand exactly what that differential looks like, Newsweek asked Gen Xers what they remember about their early experiences of paying for housing. It illuminates the stark contrast to how young people are experiencing the housing market today.

Early career workers faced a vastly different financial landscape in generations past

Alexia Georghiou’s first salary out of college in 1996 was $26,000 in Maryville, Tennessee-or $56,000 today, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics‘ CPI Inflation Calculator.

With that, she rented a central apartment in the city for $400 ($862 today) a month, bought a car, visited family in Cyprus, and was able to save. She is one of the Gen Xers who made the most of their position as the last generation to reach adulthood in an attainable housing market-less than 10 years later, bought a Florida condo close to the beach, all on a single person’s salary.

It echoes the experience of Rodney J Moore, 58, and from Asheville, North Carolina, who worked his first job as a researcher and writer for a daily cable TV show around 1996, making around $35,000 a year, and spending around $650 in rent.

“I sort of felt able to save, marry, and start a family,” Moore said. “I don’t know that you’re ever ready to do any of those things, but it’s critical to start saving early.”

Moore’s rent adjusted for inflation would today be around $1,400. This may not sound particularly low-it could still pay for a one-bedroom apartment in many parts of the country-but it’s very unlikely that a recent graduate would be able to afford it.

Moore’s $35,000 salary would equate to $75,000 in today’s money. But according to Forbes, the average salary of a 20-24-year-old in the US is significantly lower: $41,184, rising to $58,500 between the ages of 25 and 34.

What’s behind the end of affordable housing for young people

Economist Scott Beaulier told Newsweek that Gen X and Gen Z “are entering adulthood in fundamentally different asset markets,” as while wages for young workers have risen over time, “housing costs-especially in the metro areas where many career-track jobs are concentrated-have risen much faster.”

In 2024, the US Department of the Treasury noted that rents and house prices have been rising faster than incomes across most regions of the country for the past two decades, with high costs preventing young people from living on their own or having children.

They cited the housing demand growing more than housing supply, due to changing demographics and housing construction falling far short of the estimated number of housing units demanded. From 2000 to 2020, median rents rose faster than median household income in areas home to 97 percent of the population, and median house prices grew faster than overall inflation in areas home to 95 percent of the population.

Beaulier highlighted an important takeaway: “The issue is not simply that Gen Z ‘doesn’t work hard enough’; it’s that the ratio between starter salaries and starter housing has deteriorated significantly.”

When it came to Gen X workers starting off in adult life, Beaulier says, “it was relatively common to afford a modest apartment independently on an entry-level salary and still save toward a down payment,” but today, “that is far less common in many parts of the country.”

“In many cities, young workers now spend 35–50 percent of take-home pay on housing, compared to the old rule-of-thumb target of roughly 30 percent,” he says.

Newsweek previously spoke to experts about that former piece of personal finance gospel, and realtor Jim Chamberlin agreed he is seeing renters spending up to 45 percent of their salary on housing costs when rent, utilities, parking, and insurance are factored in.

“That makes saving for a home dramatically more difficult, even for financially responsible young adults,” Beaulier said.

Many Gen Xers didn’t know how good they had it

Now that Gorman is “finally married and ready to buy a home,” he says it “feels like a completely different environment.”

“Saving is harder because everything is more expensive, and the housing prices are astronomical, at least in my area,” he said.

He’s not the only Gen Xer who assumed buying a home would remain achievable.

When Amore Philip, 54, moved to New York City and began her career, she lived in a Brooklyn brownstone building, in which she was offered not once, but twice, to buy a two-bedroom unit for less than $80,000.

Philip passed both times, and admits that “still stings a little.”

“I was more focused on cosmos, stilettos, Sound Factory on the weekdays, and eating after hours at Wo Hop in Chinatown at 6am,” she admitted. “I had no kids, no real responsibilities, and the city felt limitless.”

She added: “Looking back, Gen X had opportunities that younger generations simply do not have access to today.”

Two-bedroom apartments in the area now go for hundreds of thousands, and some even top the millions, according to listings on Zillow.

It’s not all bad for Gen Z

When it comes to the financial differences between Gen X and Gen Z, economist Beaulier warns that it’s not about “one generation being smarter or tougher than another,” and that the broader economic story is simple: “Timing.”

“Gen X entered adulthood before the major run-up in housing prices and before many large metropolitan areas became nearly inaccessible to first-time buyers,” he said.

“Housing supply has not kept pace with demand in many desirable labor markets,” he said. “Zoning restrictions and slower construction have constrained inventory.”

But it’s not all bad news for Gen Z, as even with higher rents, down payments, and general cost of living, in many ways they are “outpacing Gen X and other generations at similar age points.”

According to a 2026 report from Bank of America, while Gen Z’s purchasing power is far less than that of Gen X’s starting salaries, the younger generation’s pay is growing fast, in part thanks to the normalization of job-hopping.

As Beaulier put it, in terms of “overall net worth and well-being…the kids are doing alright overall”-even, he says, “if their housing situation looks different than previous generations.”

2026 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.

This story was originally published June 6, 2026 at 7:00 AM.