Originally posted by Rondec Maybe it is because I live in a rural area, but what I see people driving is really old cars and trucks. I don't ever see a BMW or high end vehicle of any kind. Then again, I don't see people building the size homes you are describing either. Here, an acre of land typically sells for about 2500 dollars.
Here where I live in Maryland an acre of land that will perc and you can build a house on goes for about $150k. On the water it would be twice that or more.
My family has a farm in Rockingham County, Virginia, where 200 acres of woods, fields, farm might go for a few hundred thousand or so. Here I live on a small private road with maybe nine houses, and there are 3-4 German sedans, a Dodge Charger Hellcat, and several large pickups. At the farm in Virginia there are a lot of 10-, or 20-year old Hyundais and Ford/GM cars.
Even in Rockingham County I'm sure the $57k median income is sharply divided between people who live in Harrisonburg and work for JMU, and the folks in more rural areas who make less.