$141K
income now required to afford a median-priced U.S. home — roughly twice the average income.
Room to live. Room to grow.
A place to live. Care for our kids. Enough left after the bills. This is our fight to make a life in Montana possible for working families.
01
The collapse of the young generation’s economy.
First-time homebuyer age
28
1991
40
2025
+12 years in a generation. First-time buyers are now a record-low 21% of the market.
27.1M
18–29 year olds now live with their parents. The highest share since the Great Depression.
52%
of Gen Z say debt is on their mind most of the time. It’s hard to feel at peace.
69%
of Gen Z name inflation and living expenses as their #1 financial worry — more than taxes or government spending.
02
Living in Montana makes this even worse.
Share of Montanans paying 30%+ of income on housing
A household is “cost-burdened” when housing eats 30% or more of income.
6.4%
grocery-price increase in Montana from July 2024 to July 2025. Montanans already spend one of the highest shares of income on food in the country.
3 in 4
Montanans are concerned about being able to afford housing in the next five years.
$55,264
estimated average annual cost of living in Montana — roughly $4,605 a month across housing, food, transport, and health care.
03
Raising a family? In this economy?
A Montana family of four making $70–80K is staring at numbers like this every year:
The real annual cost of raising a family in Montana
Bare minimum, before healthcare, cars, or a single date night
$70,000 +
On $70K–$80K in take-home. The math simply does not work.
$19,000
the state’s own estimated cost of care for one child under five — per year.
93%
of Montana voters say childcare is too expensive.
#1
Montana families spend more of their income on groceries than any other state in the nation.
04
Did your elected officials do anything about this?
The short answer is no. The long answer is “kind of.”
The property-tax rebates going to homeowners are a good sign of trying to ease costs. I support legislation that directly helps us afford a home and that reduces rental costs. But who wins — and who loses?
The 2025 session passed legislation easing construction costs and hurdles for low- and moderate-income housing projects. That will help if we can actually increase supply, which is one of the biggest reasons homes and rent are so expensive.
The problem: it helps the people who build housing more than the people who buy or rent it. Lowering the cost to build a house doesn’t force realtors or owners to lower prices.
The same legislation completely ignored renters and left 130,000 Montana renters without any tax rebate. You can hope your landlord passes his savings on. You know, hopefully.
Let’s have some fun with our 2025 “wins.”
- HB 492 Capped parking rates on streets where you rent. That extra $20 a month is surely what’ll end our suffering.
- HB 492 Same bill obligates landlords to one parking spot per unit — or half a spot for units under 1,200 sq ft. Better find a way to own only half a car, pal.
- Tax credits for elderly Credible for helping seniors afford rising costs — and I’ll commend that one. But the big picture hasn’t moved.
In short: menial, non‑life‑changing legislation. The overarching problems we face persist.
05
Housing isn’t our only problem.
What’s up since 2020
30%
NorthWestern Energy power bills
Even after PSC-forced rollbacks on larger hikes.
55%
Auto insurance rates
Regulators still blocked $21.6M in “unjustified” hikes on top of this.
11–29%
ACA premiums in MT for 2025
Before subsidies, and after $1.7T in federal payments to insurers.
63%
Escrow (taxes + insurance)
Now nearly a third of your total mortgage payment.
66%
Median MT home price (4 yrs)
While incomes rose about 26%.
$27+
Typical junk / late fee hit
$15B a year in credit-card late fees. $12.1B in overdraft.
The ACA premium story may be the largest corporate welfare scheme in American history. Calls to let the federal credits expire — framed as protecting consumers — really stand on the shoulders of insurance companies holding America hostage for our tax money. Party doesn’t matter on this one. This should outright piss you off.
06
Final thoughts, and death by a thousand fees.
Young people are hitting the job market to find a median Montana home has jumped 66% in four years while incomes rose about 26%. Rent and childcare can chew up half a paycheck, student loans and consumer debt pile interest, and Gen Z and Millennials own homes at far lower rates than earlier generations at the same age.
The elderly and long-time homeowners were sold the idea that if they paid off their house they’d be safe. Then property taxes and insurance jumped 60%+ and utility bills climbed 25–30% since 2020. Fixed incomes don’t inflate with 17% electricity spikes and double-digit health-insurance hikes. That’s a punishment for getting old.
Banks and card issuers take about $15 billion a year in late fees and $12+ billion in overdraft fees, in $27–$35 hits concentrated on the poorest customers. Airlines have raked in $12.4 billion in seat fees since 2018. Add convenience fees on bills and creeping charges in telecom and travel, and you’ve built a system that quietly taxes anyone with irregular income or a bad month.
The ridiculousness is not that people are struggling. It’s that the data makes it crystal clear why they’re struggling, and yet most public debate still blames “the kids,” “the boomers,” or “bad choices” instead of confronting a policy design that turned housing, energy, childcare, health care, and basic banking into extraction machines.
The collapse in the young generation’s prospects and the squeeze on the working and retired isn’t just a moral failure. It’s a math problem we created, and we absolutely have the tools to undo it if we stop pretending this is normal.
Join us
It’s time to take an actual stand.
Enough pathetic political rhetoric on campaign websites and in speeches that don’t do a damn thing. Help us win and join a movement that finally represents the rest of us.