The Major League Baseball season is officially in full swing, and many loyal fans would love the opportunity to attend all 81 home games of their favorite team. But as the cost of living rises and disposable income shrinks, how many home games can a family of four realistically afford to attend?
The link between affording baseball tickets and disposable income gives us a greater picture of how high and low cost of living cities shape our financial well-being. Cities where families can attend more baseball games indicate greater financial flexibility, while those with fewer games suggest a strain on finances.
With the baseball season lasting about six months, Zoocasa calculated household expenses for the same period, accounting for mortgage payments, groceries, transportation, and healthcare, to determine each household’s disposable income. This income was then used to estimate how many baseball tickets each household could afford to buy based on median ticket prices from the Gametime resale ticket app.
Median ticket prices range from $44 to $181, with the Miami Marlins offering the cheapest and the Athletics offering the most expensive ones. While median ticket prices are not reflective of the cost of living in a city, the median home price is a good indicator of it.
Fans of the Detroit Tigers get access to the most games in a season, with a family of four able to attend 66 out of 81 home games and a couple able to attend 100% of the games. While a low median ticket price of $55 helps, the larger driver of affordability is low housing costs, which typically account for the largest portion of a household’s budget. In Detroit, only 20% of a median household’s income is spent on a mortgage. This, combined with low food, transportation, and healthcare costs, frees up cash to be spent on entertainment and leisure activities.
Baltimore, another low-cost-of-living city, gives MLB fans access to a large number of games. A family of four can attend 64 Baltimore Orioles games, while a couple can attend all 81 home games. The median home price of $349,750 is well below the national median of $410,100, and a high median household income of $94,289 enables families to attend more MLB games.
Chicago (White Sox), Minneapolis (Minnesota Twins), Kansas City (Royals), Cincinnati (Reds), and St. Louis (Cardinals) all have median home prices below the national median, enabling families in these cities to afford tickets to more than half of their MLB team’s home games. Better yet, couples in these cities can attend 100% of the home games.
When home prices are low, the average monthly mortgage payment is also low. Conversely, when home prices are high, the average monthly mortgage payment is higher, but this doesn’t always contribute to a high cost of living.
In Washington D.C., where the median home price of $638,750, leading to an average monthly mortgage payment of $3,277, residents spend just 32.4% of their annual income on mortgage costs. This is because the median household income in DC is high at $121,469.
So, as long as income growth keeps pace with the cost of living, residents can afford to spend more discretionarily on baseball tickets, theater performances, and other leisure activities.
It’s no coincidence that the state with the highest home prices gives a family of four access to the fewest number of MLB games. Across California, MLB fans will be severely restricted in the number of baseball games they can attend, with a family of four unable to attend even one Los Angeles Dodgers game.
Assuming a household earns the median income in Los Angeles, a whopping 62.9% of it would be required for mortgage payments, leaving little room for non-essential expenses. Fortunately, Los Angeles residents have the option of attending one of the Los Angeles Angels games instead.
In San Francisco, a family of four can attend six Giants games, while in San Diego, a family can attend eight Padres games. Athletics fans have a bit more disposable income and can attend 18 home games, largely thanks to Sacramento having the lowest home price among the four California cities with an MLB team. A household in Sacramento spends just 35.6% of its annual income on mortgage payments, compared to San Francisco and San Diego, which spend 63.4% and 58.5%, respectively.
The cost of living in Florida is also comparatively higher than in other states, restricting Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins fans from attending a majority of home games. A family of four can attend 17 Tampa Bay Rays games, while a Miami family can attend 20 Marlins games.
A Tale of Two New York Teams: The Yankees vs. The Mets
Despite being located in the same metro area, with the same median home price ($706,700) and monthly expenses, New York Yankees and Mets fans can attend a differing number of games.
The New York Yankees have a median ticket price of $105, while the New York Mets have a more affordable median of just $79. As a result, Mets fans win big and can afford to buy 129 tickets a season, compared to Yankees fans, who can only afford to buy 97 tickets a season. This works out to a family of four being able to attend 32 Mets games and just 24 Yankees games.
The Chicago Comparison: The White Sox vs. The Cubs
Similar to New York, Chicago’s two MLB teams, the White Sox and the Cubs, have a large gap between ticket costs. A Chicago Cubs ticket will cost around $108, while a Chicago White Sox ticket costs $73. This gives a Chicago family access to 57 White Sox games compared to just 38 Cubs games. Regardless of which team you’re a fan of, Chicago households spend just 25.5% of their annual income on mortgage expenses, giving families a financial edge over other large metros.
The annual average expenditure on housing in the U.S. is 33.1%, while transportation and food follow with the next highest percentages at 16.9% and 12.9%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, these percentages vary by cities and regions.
For example, in the New York metro area, residents spend 37.2% of their income on housing and 14.2% on transportation, while in the Minneapolis metro area, residents spend 31.5% of their income on housing and 15% on transportation.
Food costs also play a big role in determining a city’s cost of living. Among all MLB cities, consumers spend an average of $943 a month on food expenses. Those in San Francisco, Washington D.C., Boston, and Seattle spend the most on food at over $1,100 a month.
Total monthly costs range from as low as $3,000 to as high as $10,000, with an average of $5,439 among MLB cities. Baseball fans—or anyone looking to enjoy their hobbies more—who wish to increase their disposable income for attending more MLB games should evaluate where they spend most of their money and explore ways to reduce these expenses.
For example, could downsizing to a smaller home reduce your monthly mortgage payments? Or might biking to work or carpooling with a coworker decrease your transportation costs? The most straightforward way to increase your disposable income is to earn more money, but this can be a lot more difficult than shopping at more affordable grocery stores or eating out less frequently.
Ultimately, the desire for financial freedom—whether to spend on baseball tickets or travel—unites most homeowners. By reducing monthly expenses, either through relocating to a lower cost-of-living city or adopting stricter budgeting practices, you can more fully enjoy your favorite pastimes.
If you’re looking to settle in a city where you “root, root, root for the home team” without breaking the bank, start your search today.
Methodology Sources
The Toronto Blue Jays were excluded from this analysis because differences in cost of living metrics between Canada and the U.S. complicate direct comparisons.
Median ticket prices are based on data collected by resale ticket app Gametime.
For the analysis, household expenses covering six months—including mortgage payments, groceries, transportation, and healthcare—were calculated to determine each household’s disposable income. We used consumer expenditure data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, adjusted for the median household income of each city.
Median home prices were sourced from local real estate boards and the National Association of Realtors.
Mortgage payments were calculated assuming a 20% down payment and a 30-year fixed mortgage rate of 6.64%.
Median household incomes were sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau.
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