How Do TV Characters Afford Their Houses With Their Salaries

by Layla Griffin

Interesting stories, unusual characters, and plots are all aspects of why TV shows frequently attract our attention. We often relate to the people we see on TV, whether it’s due to their personality traits, relationships or something else, but somehow many of us feel like they are part of our family.
Of course, we know that a lot of situations that happen in these shows’ plots aren’t one hundred percent realistic, and one of the strangest things we’ve seen is when a character has a job with a relatively low income, yet somehow they manage to live in a huge, gorgeous house or apartment.

How is it possible? Today, we will discuss this to see if we can uncover the secret behind it.

Can These Popular TV Characters Really Afford Their Homes?

Let’s start with Friends!

As one of the biggest shows of all time, Friends has frequently made us both laugh and cry while at the same time making us feel house envy when looking at their spectacular apartments. We couldn’t help but wonder, how could six average-earning people afford these places?

For instance, charismatic Phoebe Buffay, who worked as a massage therapist, would earn around forty thousand US dollars, which means that it would take her more than 180 years to save up for the apartment in West Village.

On the other hand, we have Monica. Despite inheriting her apartmentl, it would take her more than 120 years to save up for it, since her annual income is around sixty thousand dollars. In the real world, both of them would definitely be forced to live somewhere else.

Stranger Things

Not only is the story of this accurately-titled show pretty out-of-the-ordinary, but also some other things aren’t as realistic as many would expect them to be.

For instance, many are probably wondering how Joyce Byers is able to cover all her monthly expenses, raise two children single-handedly and at the same time have enough money to live in a lovely home, especially considering how much her house is potentially worth, as shown in this price prediction from compare the market website. In reality, she would never be able to afford something like this, but it seems like everything is possible in this “strange” world. Unlike her, Jim Hopper, who lives in a very modest trailer, seems much more relatable in terms of money.

How Did These Other TV Characters Make It?

Girls

Another famous TV show that revolves around four women, except this one seems a bit more realistic than Sex and the City. Still, just like most of them, this one also has some moments that are a bit strange when it comes to money.

For instance, in Season 6, the main character Hannah gets pregnant and starts asking herself whether it would be smart to actually become a mother due to her poor financial situation. She knows that she would never be able to afford an apartment in New York City since her salary was around US $24,000. And she was completely right. She was no longer receiving any financial help from her parents, plus she also abruptly decided to quit her high-paid job in GQ.

In real life, most of us would simply move to another, less expensive city and just accept the fact that we can no longer afford to lead the same lifestyle as we used to. Well, in TV shows, people do not have to worry about that. Namely, lucky Hannah suddenly got a well-paid job as a teacher so she was able to afford to live practically anywhere. How realistic, right?!

Sex and the City

As one of the four main Sex and the City characters, Charlotte usually falls in love with rich, handsome men and loves to indulge in luxury. Her situation is even more fascinating than Carrie’s, namely in that this woman has first lived in one of the wealthiest parts of New York City, Central Park West.

Her apartment is worth is around three million dollars, yet her income (which is around fifty thousand dollars) as an art dealer definitely isn’t high enough to cover all her expenses. If we do our math right, it would take her more than 270 years to pay for her apartment!

The Sopranos

In the first episode of this popular TV show, the main character, Tony Soprano, gets promoted to a street boss, a position that’s considered to be well-paid since you can earn up to $150,000 per month.

Since Tony had a good reputation in this Mafia world, it wouldn’t surprise anybody if he earned around two million dollars every year. Now, all of this sounds relatively realistic besides one fact: If he decided to apply for a mortgage, he would never be able to get it.

Why? Because he would first have to identify the source of his income, and since he belongs to the mob, he would have to utilize his w2 source of “income” from working at the construction site. Would that be enough in the real world? Probably not!

Glee

Best friends Rachel and Kurt decided to try their luck by moving to New York City. Their apartment is around $1800 – which is definitely unreal for the Big Apple in the first place! Plus, let’s not forget that Rachel was just a student while Kurt was an intern who didn’t earn anything. Did money fall from the sky in their case? Who knows!

No one expects TV shows to showcase the real struggles most people endure daily. After all, they are here to entertain and relax us. However, sometimes, the imagination of these screenwriters and directors might go too far. As you can see, practically nobody from these popular TV shows would ever survive in the real world, so high-five to all of us who do!