Former President Jimmy Carter used to live in the white house at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but he now lives in a much more humble residence.
Carter, the nation’s 39th president and the country’s longest living former president at 96 years old, lived a very ordinary — and affordable — existence, according to The Washington Post in 2018. Carter, in fact, still lives in the ranch house he built in 1961.
According to the Post, the two-bedroom ranch home in Plains, Georgia, is only worth $167,000, or “less than the value of the armored Secret Service cars parked outside,” and is located in a rural area some 212 miles south of Atlanta. Georgia’s median home price is $213,026, which is lower than the national average, according to real estate website Zillow.
Carter’s thrifty inclinations include, according to the Post, spending weekends dining with neighbors on paper plates while drinking low-cost wine. It also claims that he and his wife, Rosalynn, produce their own yogurt. According to a 2011 Rolling Stone piece, Carter has been known to buy his clothes at his local Dollar General shop (he was there for the store’s debut in Plains in 2004), and he frequently travels commercial.
According to the Washington Post, Carter has gained much of his money in recent years by writing books; he has at least 33 to his credit, including a children’s book and reflections on his presidency. (There are 46 books listed on Thriftbooks.com.) Carter receives a $210,700 annual pension, as do all past presidents, and the federal government provides an allowance for travel and office space to all ex-presidents. Carter received more than $230,000 in such benefits in 2017, according to the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, a conservative advocacy organization.
Carter’s simple style of life contrasts greatly with that of other surviving prior presidents.
Former President Barack Obama bought a $8.1 million mansion in Washington in 2017 and is known for his family’s summer vacation ritual on the scenic (and expensive) Martha’s Vineyard.
Bill Clinton claimed that although he left the White House with a $16 million debt, it was quickly paid off thanks to his successful paid speeches and book deals. According to NPR, Clinton delivered 57 speeches in his first year out of government and earned $13.7 million from his “speaking and writing company,” according to a 2001 tax return.
Clinton has a $1.7 million property in Chappaqua, New York, and a $2.85 million residence in Washington, D.C.
According to Politico, George W. Bush has delivered at least 200 paid talks since 2009, earning between $100,000 and $175,000 per appearance.
Carter, on the other hand, is not a fan of the finer things in life. “It just never had been my aim to be affluent,” the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize recipient admits.