Just How Rich Were the McCallisters in 'Home Alone'?

In 1990, the house was affordable only for the top 1 percent of Chicago household incomes, and that would still be the case today, according to economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. …

Working with the assumption that the McCallisters did not spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing, the economists also determined the home would have been affordable to a household with an income of $305,000 in 1990 (about $665,000 in 2022).

In the middle of 2022, a similar house would cost about $2.4 million, based on the Zillow estimate for the “Home Alone” house. A home of that value would be affordable to a household with income of $730,000, which would be in the top 1 percent of Chicago-area households, the economists said.

[I’ve always wondered about that while watching the film. Their source of income was somewhat ambiguous too, which led to some humorous speculation among fans. Organized crime seems like a poor choice, though; the Wet Bandits would not have targeted someone in the Syndicate. It’s a fun analysis, especially because Holpuch only watched the film for the first time while researching the question. — Ed]