Your favorite sitcom characters may be giving you unrealistic living expectations.
Sitcoms make us laugh with outlandish yet realistic and relatable stories. What’s unrealistic, though, is how some of these characters can afford incredibly spacious living quarters—especially with many of them living in expensive cities and working jobs with low salary ranges. We used real-life data to compare how much fictional sitcom homes would cost today with how much the tenants made per month.
Successful sitcoms often spend years on the air, with many characters changing careers through time. To keep things consistent, we considered characters’ income in a show’s first season unless otherwise noted. We also used the housing and salary data averages from 2023.
Main Findings
“Full House” is the show with the most unrealistic living situation. We estimate that today their monthly housing costs would make up a whopping 177% of the characters’ estimated household income. The estimated monthly mortgage payment is roughly $28,000, and their pre-tax pay stands at less than $15,900.
Across the five shows analyzed, the characters would not be housing cost burdened in only one: “That ’70s Show.” In all four other shows, housing costs make up more than 30% of income, which is the threshold for being considered “housing cost burdened,” according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Schmidt carries the team in “New Girl.” “New Girl” ranks as the second-most realistic show when it comes to housing affordability, with housing costs making up about 36% of income. However, if the four friends split the rent evenly, $2,350 a month would be way out of budget for Nick and Jess and a bit of a stretch for Winston.
Full House House
- House location: Lower Pacific Heights, San Francisco
- House size: 4 bedrooms, 3,700 square feet
- Est. monthly household income: $15,837
- Est. monthly housing costs: $28,045
- Housing costs as a percentage of income: 177%
"Full House" centers around an unconventional family living in a posh San Francisco neighborhood. Its theme song asks "Whatever happened to predictability?" But, when it comes to the show's house, we think the better question is "Whatever happened to practicality?"
Danny Tanner, a widowed father with three daughters, works as a news anchor—in today's Bay Area, that would net him around $85,000 per year. His brother-in-law, Uncle Jesse, and childhood friend, Joey, run a radio station, and DJs in the area have an estimated annual salary of $52,520. That leads to a combined annual income of $190,040—or $15,837 per month before taxes.
Even those three incomes are no match for their four-bedroom, 3.5-bath Victorian home. According to Zillow, it sold for $5.35M in 2020. That would put their monthly housing expenses at $28,045 with a 5.7% mortgage rate. 177% of the men's monthly incomes would go toward housing, meaning they'd all likely need second jobs to afford the home and financially support the girls.
What if we skip to season 2 and add a fourth income from Jesse's wife, Aunt Becky? Even with her additional $85,000 per year as a news anchor, monthly housing costs would still be 122% of their combined income. Either the "Full House" family was full-y in debt, the Tanners had some unmentioned inheritance, or Danny spent his life saving for a hefty down payment.
Friends Apartment
- Apartment location: Greenwich Village, NYC
- Apartment size: 2 bedrooms, 1,500 square feet
- Est. monthly household income: $8,683
- Est. monthly housing costs: $6,500
- Housing costs as a percentage of income: 75%
Rachel and Monica's purple-walled apartment from "Friends" is perhaps the least realistic across TV shows since a 1,500-square-foot apartment in Greenwich Village is virtually unheard of. Apartments in New York City can vary widely in cost between neighborhoods, but if this one were real, we'd expect it to rent for about $6,500 in 2023.
In the show's first season, Monica works as a chef ($64,190 per year) and Rachel works as a waitress ($40,000). This gives them a combined pre-tax income of $8,683 per month, three-quarters of which would go to rent.
The show's writers explained the discrepancy in a later season. After Monica's grandmother passed away, she inherited the large apartment, which was rent-controlled for $200 per month.
Seinfeld Apartment
- Apartment location: Upper West Side, NYC
- Apartment size: 1 bedroom, 800 square feet
- Est. monthly household income: $7,760
- Est. monthly housing costs: $4,500
- Housing costs as a percentage of income: 58%
Jerry Seinfeld's television apartment is an 800-square-foot space on Manhattan's Upper West Side, with one bedroom and an open-concept kitchen/living room. The bachelor pad would likely cost $4,500 in rent in 2023, about 58% of his estimated monthly income of $7,760. That assumes his character, also a comedian, gets consistent gigs.
While Jerry's living situation is slightly more realistic than Monica and Rachel's on "Friends," it's still hard to believe he can afford to live in this apartment and meet his pals at Monk's Cafe every day.
New Girl Apartment
- Apartment location: Arts District, Los Angeles
- Apartment size: 4 bedrooms, 2,600 square feet
- Est. monthly household income: $25,824
- Est. monthly housing costs: $9,400
- Housing costs as a percentage of income: 36%
When "New Girl" rose to popularity in 2013, many dubbed it the modern-day "Friends." It centers around four roommates living in a four-bedroom Los Angeles loft—but an affordable place that size in the City of Angels may be too good to be true.
The building the producers used for exterior shots only has studio apartments and office spaces. However, based on the median costs for its neighborhood, the Arts District, a 2,600-square-foot loft would cost about $9,400 per month in rent.
Each roommate has a different career and estimated salary:
- Jessica Day, a teacher, would make around $66,669 per year before taxes.
- Nick Miller, a bartender, would make $42,217 per year.
- Winston Schmidt, a marketing manager, would make around $121,000 per year.
- Winston Bishop works temp jobs throughout the show, but we'll use his police detective salary of $80,000.
Tallied up, the gang rakes in $25,824 per month, with housing a combined 36% share of their spending. They're not severely housing cost burdened, which the federal government defines as spending 50% or more of their income on rent. However, if the four friends split the rent equally, $2,350 per month would be out of reach for Nick and Jess and a bit of a financial stretch for Winston Bishop.
That '70s Show House
- House location: Wisconsin
- House size: 3 bedrooms, 3,100 square feet
- Est. monthly household income: $9,798
- Est. monthly housing costs: $1,786
- Monthly housing costs as a percentage of income: 18%
"That '70s Show" is famous for depicting middle-class life in a turbulent decade. Red Forman, played by Kurtwood Smith, is a blue-collar veteran known for being disciplined and frugal. His family's home, where the show's younger characters often gather, is no different. A similar 3,100-square-foot three-bedroom house in suburban Wisconsin would cost about $1,786 per month.
At the start of the show, Red works at a factory making car parts. That brings him about $40,720 per year in 2023 dollars. His wife, Kitty, would make around $76,850 as a nurse. With a combined monthly household income of $9,798, the couple's housing-related spending forms 18% of their paychecks.
The Formans are rather comfortable financially compared to the other shows we surveyed. However, we didn't factor in the other potential costs of homeownership. Property taxes, homeowner's insurance, and a home warranty to cover general wear and tear can add up quickly.
Methodology
We used real-world rent and home cost data from various market resources, including apartments.com, Zumper, and Redfin, to determine housing costs for these fictional TV homes.
We then found median salary information from BLS data reflecting what each character would be earning today, taking location into account. After gathering data on monthly housing costs and combined monthly salaries for all household members, we determined how much each household would spend on housing.
Questions about our study? Contact media@todayshomeowner.org.
Fair Use Policy
We encourage journalists and reporters to share our analysis and findings. If you choose to do so, please link back to our original story to give us proper credit for our research.
