[quote=sdrealtor] . . . In many nice ZIPS in SD county you have a lot of homes owned by low income retirees who want to and can afford to stay here. That keeps supply low and helps skew income lower tahn it would be if you looked at who was moving in rather than everyone who already lives there. When you get down to it, the median income for a ZIP is pretty meaningless in real estate. What matters is the incomes of the folks who want to, can afford to and actually buy a home there.[/quote]
To add to sdr’s comment, the large “retired” element in older communities of SD tend to have a lower income than the “working” element, so it “skews” the incomes on the demographic charts. But being retired and on a lower income may not necessarily equate to a lesser lifestyle than a working family across the street having =>2x more monthly income. Not only do the retired generally pay less income taxes, they very often have no mortgage and owe far less property taxes (due to Prop 13 caps). So it’s very possible that the retired homeowner has MORE discretionary income that their dual-income-family neighbor.
This may seem unfair to a current worker raising a family but, like it or not, it’s just the way the world works . . .
You, as a young worker today, might have a hard time imagining yourself standing on your feet on their line at Convair all day producing aircraft parts (for 25 – 35 years). That was their life.
