The Simpsons: Cost of Living in Springfield, USA

November 2024 by couponlab

Ever wondered how much it costs the Simpsons to live in Springfield, USA? We did.

And since they never specify which Springfield they live in on the show, we looked at the top five cities (by population) named Springfield, plus one more Springfield that Matt Groening has alluded to might actually be where the Simpsons live. These Springfields are:

Springfield, Oregon
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield, Missouri
Springfield, Ohio
Springfield, Massachusetts

Springfield, Oregon:

Homer’s salary: $51,544/year
The Simpsons’ house: $182,500
Cost of gas for Homer’s work commute: The nearest power plant is in Richland, WA, 349 miles away. Homer’s travel time would cost $10,153 per year for a commute of 698 miles roundtrip. Ouch!
Mr. Burns’ mansion would cost $575,000 and have five bedrooms and 4,654 square feet.
Abe Simpson’s retirement home would cost $93,258 yearly.
Shelbyville equivalent: Glenwood, OR
Springfield, OR, was settled by the Briggs family and named for a natural spring located in the city.

Springfield, Illinois:

Homer’s salary: $49,679/year
The Simpsons’ house: $113,000
Cost of gas for Homer’s work commute: $76/year for a commute of 2.6 miles roundtrip.
Mr. Burns’ mansion would cost $1,250,000 and have six bedrooms and 8,502 square feet.
Abe Simpson’s retirement home would cost $43,995 yearly.
Shelbyville equivalent: Grandview, IL
Springfield, IL, is named after Springfield, MA, which was the first Springfield in the “New World.”

Springfield, Missouri:

Homer’s salary: $49,888/year
The Simpsons’ house: $114,900
Cost of gas for Homer’s work commute: $670/year for a commute of 23 miles roundtrip.
Mr. Burns’ mansion would cost $1,795,000 and have five bedrooms and 8,208 square feet.
Abe Simpson’s retirement home would cost $27,000 yearly.
Shelbyville equivalent: Brookline Station, MO
This Springfield does not have a known founder, and the origin of its name is unknown. So Jebediah Springfield is a possibility.

Springfield, Ohio:

Homer’s salary: $54,767/year
The Simpsons’ house: $65,000
Cost of gas for Homer’s work commute: $134/year for a commute of 4.6 miles roundtrip.
Mr. Burns’ mansion would cost $626,000 and have five bedrooms and 4,061 square feet.
Abe Simpson’s retirement home would cost $42,120 yearly.
Shelbyville equivalent: Jacksonville, OH
Founded by James Demint, this Springfield, like Springfield, IL, was also named after Springfield, MA.

Springfield, Massachusetts:

Homer’s salary: $59,268/year
The Simpsons’ house: $112,900
Cost of gas for Homer’s work commute: $7,466/year for a commute of 256 miles roundtrip. (The nearest power plant is 128 miles away. For Homer’s sake, we hope this isn’t the Springfield the Simpsons reside in.)
Mr. Burns’ mansion would cost $970,000 and have 13 bedrooms and 14,411 square feet.
Abe Simpson’s retirement home would cost $122,640 yearly.
Shelbyville equivalent: Brightwood, MA
Springfield, MA, was the first Springfield in America. It was named after founder William Pynchon’s hometown: Springfield, Essex, England.
Fun fact: This is the only Springfield that has a nearby gorge — the Granville Gorge in Southwick, MA, is 16 miles away.

Some Non-State-Specific Costs:

Homer’s yearly Moe’s Tavern tab: $2,340
The Simpsons’ annual grocery bill: $17,580
Apu and Manjula’s yearly grocery cost (2 adults + octuplets): $13,856.70

Our Calculations:
Homer’s salary:
We calculated the average salary for nuclear safety inspectors in Springfields.

Springfield, Oregon: $51,544
Springfield, Illinois: $49,679
Springfield, Missouri: $49,888
Springfield, Ohio: $54,767
Springfield, Massachusetts: $59,268

Housing:
We looked at the median housing cost in all our Springfields.
Springfield, Oregon: $182,500.
Springfield, Illinois: $113,000.
Springfield, Missouri: $114,900.
Springfield, Ohio: $65,000.
Springfield, Massachusetts: $112,900.
Homer’s tab at Moe’s: Homer drinks Duff, an American lager similar to Coors Light, and Coors Light generally costs around $3 per bottle at bars. We estimated that Homer is in the ninth decile of American drinkers, probably consuming 15 drinks per week, and that’s $45 a week, or $2,340 each year.

Groceries:
The average monthly cost for a family of two adults and two school-age children is $1,290.60 if you’re on the “liberal” food plan (and we think the Simpsons would have to be, with Homer’s appetite). We added Maggie for $174.50 a month, the average cost of a “liberal” plan for a 1-year-old infant.

For Apu and Manjula, we estimated based on the “low-cost” plan for two adults and eight infants. (We figured with such a big family, they’d likely stick to the low-cost plan.)

Gas:
The Simpsons live close enough to Bart and Lisa’s school for Bart to skateboard home. We assumed they lived within walking distance of an elementary school in each Springfield, then calculated the mileage from there to the nearest power plant. Homer drives a Plymouth Valiant from the mid-1970s, which would average about 24 miles per gallon. AAA estimates the national average gas price per gallon to be $2.80.

Springfield, OR: The closest nuclear plant is Columbia Generating Station in Richland, WA, giving Homer a commute of 349 miles one way from Riverbend Elementary School.
Springfield, IL: 1.3 miles to work (Coppenhager Elementary School to Turner Industries Group)
Springfield, MO: 11.5 miles to work (Truman Elementary School to Associated Co-op Inc.)
Springfield, OH: 2.3 miles to work (Cranbrook Elementary School to Nuclear Fabrication Consortium)
Springfield, MA: The closest nuclear plant is the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth, MA. From Kensington Avenue Elementary School, Homer’s commute would be 128 miles one way. We hope for his sake that neither this nor Oregon is the Springfield the Simpsons reside in.

Mr. Burns’ mansion:
We looked at the most expensive houses in each of the Springfields. (We only considered places with five or more bedrooms since Mr. Burns has at least that many.)

Springfield, OR: $575,000
Springfield, IL: $2,800,000
Springfield, MO: $1,795,000
Springfield, OH: $1,199,000
Springfield, MA: $970,000

Abe Simpsons’ retirement home:
We based this on the average yearly cost of a semi-private room in a retirement home in each of our Springfields.