This is the Cost of Living in a Fictional World

Written by Posted On Wednesday, 10 July 2019 07:03

If you’ve ever dreamed of living in the Gatsby Mansion or being roommates with Monica and Rachel, you’re not alone. The best television shows and movies make us fall in love with the characters and their lifestyles, making us want every part of their life - from their wardrobe to their perfectly decorated homes. 

But the reality is, many of these homes would be extremely expensive if placed in the real world. Ignoring the fact that they would be iconic landmarks, a relatively high salary would be needed to afford what some fictional characters are depicted as living in. 

Empire Today calculated exactly how much one would need to make in order to afford ten of the most famous homes of Hollywood based on comparable houses or apartments in the given market. 

It’s no surprise that the priciest home on the list is the Gatsby Mansion nestled in Long Island, New York. It’s estimated value exceeds $13,000,000 - requiring an estimated income of nearly $2.3 million annually (though you would probably need to make much more than that to support all of the extravagant parties you’ll be expected to throw). 

What’s more surprising is that a shoebox sized apartment in NYC like the one that Monica and Rachel called home in ‘Friends’ would cost a monthly mortgage of over $7,600. Given that Rachel worked as a starving waitress that struggled to support her shopping addiction, it’s unlikely that she would have made an annual salary of over $300k. This illuminates how truly expensive it is to survive in New York - even the smallest apartment in a mediocre location will cost a high dollar. 

Another costly city is San Francisco, home of the Tanners in ‘Full House’. While this house was used as a fictional backdrop for the 90s sitcom, it is a real house near the coast of California. 1709 Broderick Street has been on the market, recently in 2016 selling for over $4 million. Though this cost has steeply risen due to the fame of the house, it’s face value is still estimated to exceed the average middle class income. The Tanners would have needed to wrack in about $320,000 annually to afford their family home that’s ‘always open’. 

The most affordable home on the list comes out of a recent Netflix original trend - Joyce’s house from ‘Stranger Things’. This 3-bed, 1-bath in Hawkins, Indiana would require a monthly mortgage of a respectable $534 - requiring an annual income of just under $25,000. It may not be the nicest, trendiest home on the list but it’s a source of shelter - and Joyce seems to be able to make it her own. 

Moral of the story is, many fictional characters have it made. While some characters like Joyce or Lorelai of ‘Gilmore Girls’ have realistic abode’s, many of them live in places that are unaffordable to most. Maybe they truly do work hard enough to afford high quality homes in their time off-screen, but the more likely explanation is that their world is one in which mortgage payments, loans, and down payments all together don’t exist.

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