Even in rural areas you can no longer get the same house that your parents had for the equivalent money.

My parents have an extremely nice house on a beautiful 60 acre piece of land. My dad did water & sewer work and my mom worked part time when we were young and later worked as a postmaster.

My wife and I both have degrees and jobs that pay way better after accounting for inflation, and our house is absolute shit by comparison. My parent’s house and land is worth millions. My wife’s parents did what is pretty standard around here and built on a lake, also with low paying jobs. Their home is probably worth close to a million or so as well.