"Stop Buying Lattes If You Want To Buy A House" Is My Least-Favorite Money Tip, So I Did The Math To Show Why
"Stop buying lattes if you want to buy a house" is my least-favorite generic money tip. First of all, it comes with the assumption that every young person is spending too much money on coffee, which is just not true. Secondly, lattes aren't the problem, and I've done the math to prove it.
Using Zillow data from 2021, The Zebra put together a list of average home prices in each state, which I used as a starting point. To calculate how many lattes a house would cost based on this data, I've set the price at $6 per latte. This covers $5 for a drink (possibly with oat milk) and $1 for tip.
Here's how many lattes you'd have to skip to buy a house in every state, ranked from lowest to highest:
51.West Virginia
Average home price in this state: $126,891
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 21,149
How many lattes to put 20% down: 4,230
50.Mississippi
Average home price in this state: $155,020
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 25,837
How many lattes to put 20% down: 5,167
49.Arkansas
Average home price in this state: $166,626
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 27,771
How many lattes to put 20% down: 5,554
48.Oklahoma
Average home price in this state: $169,307
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 28,218
How many lattes to put 20% down: 5644
47.Iowa
Average home price in this state: $183,159
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 30,527
How many lattes to put 20% down: 6,105
46.Kentucky
Average home price in this state: $186,255
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 31,043
How many lattes to put 20% down: 6,209
45.Alabama
Average home price in this state: $190,597
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 31,766
How many lattes to put 20% down: 6,353
44.Kansas
Average home price in this state: $196,956
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 32,826
How many lattes to put 20% down: 6,565
43.Ohio
Average home price in this state: $199,325
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 33,221
How many lattes to put 20% down: 6,644
42.Louisiana
Average home price in this state: $204,572
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 34,095
How many lattes to put 20% down: 6,819
41.Indiana
Average home price in this state: $207,576
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 34,596
How many lattes to put 20% down: 6,919
40.Missouri
Average home price in this state: $216,031
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 36,005
How many lattes to put 20% down: 7,201
39.Michigan
Average home price in this state: $220,278
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 36,713
How many lattes to put 20% down: 7,343
38.Nebraska
Average home price in this state: $228,087
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 38,015
How many lattes to put 20% down: 7,603
37.Wisconsin
Average home price in this state: $251,370
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 41,895
How many lattes to put 20% down: 8,379
36.Pennsylvania
Average home price in this state: $253,342
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 42,224
How many lattes to put 20% down: 8,445
35.Illinois
Average home price in this state: $253,637
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 42,273
How many lattes to put 20% down: 8,455
34.South Carolina
Average home price in this state: $266,396
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 44,399
How many lattes to put 20% down: 8,880
33.Tennessee
Average home price in this state: $269,250
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 44,875
How many lattes to put 20% down: 8,975
32.North Dakota
Average home price in this state: $270,233
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 45,039
How many lattes to put 20% down: 9,008
31.South Dakota
Average home price in this state: $273,720
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 45,620
How many lattes to put 20% down: 9,124
30.New Mexico
Average home price in this state: $274,665
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 45,778
How many lattes to put 20% down: 9,156
29.Texas
Average home price in this state: $285,684
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 47,614
How many lattes to put 20% down: 9,523
28.Georgia
Average home price in this state: $290,217
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 48,370
How many lattes to put 20% down: 9,674
27.North Carolina
Average home price in this state: $291,533
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 48,589
How many lattes to put 20% down: 9,718
26.Wyoming
Average home price in this state: $303,479
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 50,580
How many lattes to put 20% down: 10,116
25.Alaska
Average home price in this state: $323,363
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 53,894
How many lattes to put 20% down: 10,779
24.Minnesota
Average home price in this state: $325,052
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 54,175
How many lattes to put 20% down: 10,835
23.Delaware
Average home price in this state: $333,539
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 55,590
How many lattes to put 20% down: 11,118
22.Vermont
Average home price in this state: $336,726
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 56,121
How many lattes to put 20% down: 11,224
21.Maine
Average home price in this state: $337,856
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 56,309
How many lattes to put 20% down: 11,262
20.New York
Average home price in this state: $350,003
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 58,334
How many lattes to put 20% down: 11,667
19.Virginia
Average home price in this state: $359,823
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 59,971
How many lattes to put 20% down: 11,994
18.Connecticut
Average home price in this state: $360,415
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 60,069
How many lattes to put 20% down: 12,014
17.Florida
Average home price in this state: $366,301
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 61,050
How many lattes to put 20% down: 12,210
16.Maryland
Average home price in this state: $397,529
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 66,255
How many lattes to put 20% down: 13,251
15.Arizona
Average home price in this state: $416,486
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 69,414
How many lattes to put 20% down: 13,883
14.Rhode Island
Average home price in this state: $416,499
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 69,417
How many lattes to put 20% down: 13,883
13.Montana
Average home price in this state: $417,468
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 69,578
How many lattes to put 20% down: 13,916
12.New Hampshire
Average home price in this state: $420,823
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 70,137
How many lattes to put 20% down: 14,027
11.Nevada
Average home price in this state: $440,107
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 73,351
How many lattes to put 20% down: 14,670
10.New Jersey
Average home price in this state: $449,425
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 74,904
How many lattes to put 20% down: 14,981
9.Idaho
Average home price in this state: $462,281
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 77,047
How many lattes to put 20% down: 15,409
8.Oregon
Average home price in this state: $501,909
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 83,652
How many lattes to put 20% down: 16,730
7.Utah
Average home price in this state: $544,796
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 90,799
How many lattes to put 20% down: 18,160
6.Colorado
Average home price in this state: $563,545
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 93,924
How many lattes to put 20% down: 18,785
5.Massachusetts
Average home price in this state: $569,951
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 94,992
How many lattes to put 20% down: 18,998
4.Washington
Average home price in this state: $597,128
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 99,521
How many lattes to put 20% down: 19,904
3.California
Average home price in this state: $764,358
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 127,393
How many lattes to put 20% down: 25,479
2.District of Columbia
Average home price in this state: $803,327
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 133,888
How many lattes to put 20% down: 26,778
1.Hawaii
Average home price in this state: $959,134
How many lattes to buy a house in cash: 159,856
How many lattes to put 20% down: 31,971
In conclusion, if you enjoy getting a coffee as a small and affordable luxury, that's between you and your budget. But maaaaybe if you bought, like, 5,000 lattes last year, you might think about cutting back.
