It’s that time of year to run back your favorite Christmas movies, including Home Alone.
The 1990 holiday classic features the McCallister family, who are going on a lavish vacation—and spoiler alert—forget their youngest son, Kevin (Macaulay Culkin). The family appears to be well off, living in a large single-family home in the northern suburbs of Chicago. But just how much money did they have?
The New York Times answered that burning question by speaking with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago—and apparently, the McCallisters are the top one percent, based on the value of their home.
According to the publication, only those earning in the top one percent could afford the home, located on Chicago’s North Shore, per the Federal Reserve. And that's still true today. In 1990, only those making a household income of $305,000 could have purchased that home, or, in 2022, $665,000.
In 2022, Zillow’s estimate for the house put it at around $2.4 million. The actual home used in the movie resides at 671 Lincoln Avenue in Chicago’s Winnetka suburb, one of the priciest neighborhoods in the U.S.
That’s probably why thieves Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern) were casing the house—because of its value, and the valuable things that were likely inside.
“That’s the one, Marv, that’s the silver tuna,” Harry says, as he thinks aloud about the “top-flight goods” that are inside, like VCRs, stereos, fine jewelry, and “odd marketable securities.”
