The Salary Needed to Afford Famous TV and Movie Homes

Movies and television shows include lovable characters and riveting storylines, but they also show enviable homes that most people would love to own. Sometimes they’re vast in size or on a lake, other times they’re modest apartments located right in the center of a city. Either way, the question remains, how much would it cost to own one of these homes?
 
With that in mind, we decided to take a look at what salary you would need to afford some of the most iconic TV and movie homes. We selected ten homes—five from movies and five from television programs—then determined an estimated cost of each house or apartment. Next, we looked at the average price of comparable home listings in the locations of these homes, then determined the required salary assuming the payment wouldn’t exceed 28% of one’s monthly income. Our analysis looked at down payments in the amount of 20%, 10%, or 5%, and based the mortgage payment calculation on a 30-year, 4% loan.

How Much Would You Need to Earn to Afford Famous TV Homes?

First, we looked at the five TV homes selected for our analysis: Monica and Rachel’s apartment in Friends, the Tanners’ house in Full House, Blanche’s house in Golden Girls, Lorelai’s house in Gilmore Girls, and Joyce’s house in Stranger Things. Although it’s the smallest on this list, the Friends apartment would cost nearly $2 million, which would require an annual income of $326,571 at minimum (assuming a 20% down payment). The sky-high price of their apartment is due to the location—New York City real estate is notoriously expensive. The least expensive on this list is Joyce’s house in Stranger Things, which would only require $22,886 per year. The other TV homes fall somewhere in between these two.

How Much Would You Need to Earn to Afford Famous Movie Homes?

Next, we looked at five homes from movies: Gatsby’s mansion in The Great Gatsby, Noah’s house in The Notebook, Cameron’s house in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the McCallisters’ house in Home Alone, and the Durselys’ house in Harry Potter. At 18 bedrooms and 8.5 baths, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Gatsby mansion is the priciest on this list -- a whopping $13 million. You would need to earn over $2 million per year at minimum to afford such a house (assuming a 20% down payment). On the flip side, the Durselys’ home would be much less expensive and would require that you earn at least $92,271 per year.

How Much Would You Need to Earn, Based on a 5%, 10%, or 20% Down Payment?

Finally, we wanted to take a look at these costs based on different down payment amounts. The more someone is able to put down upfront, the lower their mortgage payment will be, and consequently the lower the required annual income would be. Looking at the costs of these famous homes, it’s apparent how significant the down payment is on a homeowner’s ongoing costs. For example, someone looking to buy the Ferris Bueller’s Day Off house would need to earn over $30,000 more per year if they put down 5% instead of 20%, because of how that affects the mortgage payment.
 
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