Let me reply to Bham1982 on housing costs. I'll use the D.C. area as an example.

Without getting into a discussion of median rental costs, etc.

In the D.C. metro area there is no such thing as 'cheap housing'. Period. Not tiny apartments. Not cheap rentals in crime ridden areas, etc.

People in the D.C. pay a very high percentage of their income to housing. Quite frankly in areas I would not want to live.

This is a case of 'supply and demand.' There simply is not enough housing to meet the needs and that forces housing prices up. We see this in rentals. We see it in houses for sale. Condo apartments.