Brittnie Aguirre grew up in Nevada and has always wanted to build her American Dream there: owning a home with her husband and three kids. But rocketing prices wrought by a years-long real estate boom, have priced her -- and many middle-class Americans -- out of the market, an issue that could weigh heavily in November's presidential election. "We make the most we've ever made in our lives, but we struggle more than we really ever have, just because the cost of living is absolutely through the roof," Aguirre told AFP.
"It's not even just housing. I mean, have you seen the price of groceries, of gas?" Aguirre, 29, and her 31-year-old husband live and work in Reno, a fast-growing city in the western state of Nevada. The state, which President Joe Biden won by just 33,000 votes over Donald Trump in 2020, carries a relatively meager six electoral college votes out of the 270 required to win the White House.
But in this year's knife-edge contest between Kamala Harris and Trump, it is one of a handful of battleground states expected to decide who triumphs. And American politics is nearly always dominated by the economy, making voters like Aguirre important. She lived with her in-laws for a year-and-a-half to save for a deposit.
But even then -- and with property prices continuing to rise -- more than half the $71,000 post-tax annual family income would be swallowed by a $3,000 monthly mortgage. Although Aguirre voted for Biden in 2020, disappointment over family finances will play .