Revealed: Home Alone's McCallister family were in top 1% earners

US economists identify how much the fictional family would have needed to afford their luxury house

The McCallister family from Home Alone. Their Chicago mansion is one of the best-known houses in film history. Photo: 20th Century Fox

It’s been more than 30 years since Home Alone was released.

And now a burning question about exactly how rich the McCallister family were has been answered.

Economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said when the film was made in 1990, they would be considered in the top 1 per cent of Chicago residents based on the value of their home.

"In 1990, the house was affordable only for the top 1 per cent of Chicago household incomes, and that would still be the case today," they told The New York Times. "The home would have been affordable to a household with an income of $305,000 in 1990 (about $665,000 in 2022)."

This means that Kevin McCallister’s parents would have had to have a total income of at least $305,000 to afford the home. Last year, US property website Zillow estimated their house used in the film, which is in North Shore, would be worth about $2.4 million today.

Fans have long speculated over how rich the McCallister family are, mostly because it’s not cheap to take 15 family members on a Christmas holiday to Paris as they do in the original film. However, Home Alone never reveals what Kevin’s parents do for a living, although it’s long been assumed that his mother Kate worked as a fashion designer given the home has mannequins in it.

In 2021, Airbnb listed the McCallister home for one-night only at only $25 per person. Buzz McCallister (Devin Ratray), Kevin's not-so-friendly big brother, was on hand to host visitors.

“You may not remember me as particularly accommodating but I’ve grown up, and I’d be happy to share my family home – my pizza, even – with you this holiday season,” he said in the property description. “Just try not to let my tarantula, Axl, lose this time.

“We may all be older and wiser now, but we’re never too old for holiday hijinks. So this year, spend the holidays not-so-home-alone at my parents’ house.”