Four months ago, Andrea Stitt lost her daycare business and was evicted from the four-bedroom home she shared with her two children. Now, she lives in a 175-square-foot RV with her 12-year-old son and six-year-old daughter.
The family travels around southern Oregon, spending nights at campgrounds with electricity and water hookups when they can afford it, or on remote federal lands with no amenities when they can't, Stitt told CNBC.
"I've adapted to this lifestyle because we have to adapt," Stitt's son Dante told the network. "If we don't adapt, we won't change, and if we don't change, we'll be mad, and if we're mad, that just sucks. You don't want to be mad."
Don't Miss:
- They Sold Their Last Real Estate Company for Nearly $1B — Now They're Building the Future of U.S. Industrial Growth
- This Jeff Bezos-backed startup will allow you to become a landlord in just 10 minutes, with minimum investments as low as $100.
The arrangement may not be ideal for the family, but they can take some comfort in the fact that they aren't alone in the lifestyle. As housing costs have continued to skyrocket, many have been forced to look for alternatives to traditional options.
About 486,000 people are currently living full-time in an RV, according to the RV Industry Association. This is almost twice as many as in 2021. US Census Bureau found a similar trend. According to the bureau, data from 2023, the most recent year it was available, shows that almost 350,000 people were living in RVs full-time, up 41% from 2019.
While living full-time in an RV used to be reserved for nomadic young professionals or retirees with well-stocked savings accounts, it's increasingly become the domain of low-income Americans with limited housing options.
Trending: Backed by $300M+ in Assets and Microsoft's Climate Fund, Farmland LP Opens Vital Farmland III to Accredited Investors
"There's just a huge housing affordability challenge in this country, and that's part of a larger cost-of-living challenge I think we're generally having," National Low Income Housing Coalition Director of Federal Research Dan Emmanuel told CNBC. "It's structural, particularly for the lowest income group. In virtually every housing market, it's there."
Stagnating labor markets aren't helping the situation, with many families finding it harder than ever to make ends meet.
Many of the full-time RVers who spoke to CNBC said that this lifestyle has largely been a financial choice for them, allowing them to pay down debts or build up the savings necessary to get them into a more secure situation.
Kat Tucker, a disabled veteran who has been living in an RV full-time for the last five years, is a perfect example.
See Also: Have $100k+ to invest? Charlie Munger says that's the toughest milestone — don't stall now. Get matched with a fiduciary advisor and keep building
She told CNBC that she initially moved into her RV to cut down on housing costs, after finding it difficult to secure an apartment on the $58,000 she receives each year from Social Security and disability payments.
"[RVing] can be a great lifestyle, but it can also be yet another trap for poor people who just keep getting poorer," she said, pointing to the high upkeep costs of an RV as well as its quickly depreciating value. "I'm never going to be able to afford decent housing, even though I have a steady income. That's what's really frustrating."
Stitt feels similarly. Although she has a job as a daycare teacher, she doesn't make enough to afford decent housing in the area. At this point, she's hoping she'll soon be able to afford a spot at a long-term RV lot so she doesn't have to keep moving between spots.
"I'm either going to have to be a rich person or a poor person because middle class isn't possible anymore," she told CNBC.
Read Next: 7 Million Gamers Already Trust Gameflip With Their Digital Assets — Now You Can Own a Stake in the Platform
Image: Shutterstock
