More Americans are living in RVs as housing costs rise

Initially, Williams planned to use $100,000 from the sale of her house to buy another home. But as she looked, prices began to soar. Since July 2020, home prices in the Chattanooga metro area have increased by nearly 50%, to an average of $325,000, while rents are up 40%, to an average of $1,534, according to Zillow.

Williams worried those prices would be too much of a strain. Her current job, working overnight caring for two adults with special needs, pays $15.50 an hour, leaving her with about $2,000 a month after taxes to supplement the $1,000 in Social Security and annuity payments she receives. At the same time, she’s trying to save as much as she can for when she’s unable to work.

“At my age, do I want to do a 30-year loan on a house and then struggle because I would have to pay the mortgage, and then I would have to pay utility bills and insurance and somebody to mow my grass if I can’t do it myself?” Williams said. “I looked at the future, and I’m thinking, my gosh, could I even enjoy my life? I’d have to work a couple jobs.”

Instead, she bought an RV for $29,000 and pays $550 a month in rent to an RV park, which includes her electric, water and Wi-Fi.

Williams has done her best to make the space feel like home. Outside, she’s put down an outdoor rug, patio furniture and a fire pit. She’s adopted the RV park’s stray cats, putting out tiny pet tents for them in the nearby woods and plates of food. On a recent day off, she was peddling her outdoor exercise bike while smoking meat in her meat cooker. A neighborhood rooster had come by and was pecking at leftover cat food.