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1963–2026 · A MEDIAN U.S. HOME vs SILVER
A median U.S. home cost roughly 9,700 ounces of silver in 1976. The chart below tracks that ratio every month since 1963. Silver is more volatile than gold — its industrial demand makes the line jaggier — but the long-horizon question is the same: how many ounces of bullion does it take to buy a roof?
Avg. a median U.S. home
$17,800
Spot silver
$1.28 / oz
= 13,906 oz
Avg. a median U.S. home
$403,200
Spot silver
$75.53 / oz
= 5,338 oz
Silver is roughly 70-80× cheaper per ounce than gold, so any nominal dollar value translates to ~70-80× more silver. The shape of the chart is what matters — silver has tracked gold's broad trajectory, just at a different scale and with more volatility.
Less consistently than gold. Silver had a spectacular 1979-1980 spike (Hunt Brothers) that briefly let a small bag of silver buy a house, and a 2009-2011 run that closed the gap from the 2000s. Outside those, silver lags slightly — but the long-run trend is similar to gold.
About half of silver demand is industrial (electronics, solar, photography historically). Gold is almost entirely monetary. Industrial demand swings with the business cycle; monetary demand swings with macro confidence. Different forces, different volatility profiles.
Hardcoded 1971 anchor: 282 oz