The Price of Pasadena: Is the Lifestyle in Shrinking Realistic for Therapists?

Can Gaby Really Afford Her New Digs In Season 2 Of Shrinking?

Pasadena, California, is renowned for its iconic Tournament of Roses, the Rose Bowl, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology. It’s also the backdrop for the show Shrinking, about a therapist—Jimmy Laird, played by Jason Segel—who violates every rule of therapy by telling clients what he really thinks about them and their issues.

But Pasadena is not a very affordable place to live. The average home price is over $1 million, Can a Cognitive Behavioral Therapist like Jimmy really afford to live in Pasadena?

Some of the celebrities Jimmy might run into at Ralph’s supermarket include…

  • Kristen Wiig, actress and comedian known for Saturday Night Live and Bridesmaids, with an estimated net worth of $25 million
  • Meryl Streep, Academy Award-winning actress, with an estimated net worth of $160 million
  • Vince Vaughn, actor famous for Wedding Crashers and The Internship, with an estimated net worth of $70 million
  • Jackie Robinson, the iconic baseball player who broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier, whose legacy is priceless but had a significant impact on sports history
  • Wayne Gretzky, legendary hockey player often considered the greatest of all time, with an estimated net worth of $250 million
  • David Lee Roth, lead vocalist of the rock band Van Halen, with an estimated net worth of $60 million

Pasadena is an exclusive, affluent area.

Jason Segel also lives in Pasadena, which following the above makes sense. He has an estimated net worth of $50 million.

But Jimmy isn’t an A-list actor. He’s a Cognitive Behavioral Therapist (who doesn’t actually use any CBT techniques in the show). Unless his hourly rate is extraordinary, can he really afford to be eating a burger at Pete’s Blue Chip with Wayne Gretzky and Meryl Streep?

The house from Shrinking as seen on Zillow.

Pasadena's High Cost of Living

The average home price in Pasadena ranges between $1.18 million and $1.27 million. And a quick look at Zillow shows some homes well into the 2, 3, $4.5 million dollar range. A 4 bed, 3 bath is $2.75 million.

In Shrinking, Segel’s house is at 1849 N Michigan Ave, in the Historic Highlands Landmark District. A plaque sits on the front lawn, showing that the house was built in 1913 for John and Elsie Dorland, was a 2002 Historic Highland Tour Home. All that to say that the house has history and history always factors into the bottom line.

The current Zillow estimate for Jimmy’s house is $2,579,600 (as of today’s writing). At today’s interest, a standard mortgage payment for 1848 N Michigan Ave. is $16,575, or $198,900 annually.

To put that in perspective, the average salary nationwide is $59,428: about three and half months of payments for Jimmy’s fictional house.

But Segel’s character isn’t average. He’s a Cognitive Behavioral Therapist. Can he afford to live in the historic Pasadena neighborhood?

The Earnings of a CBT Therapist in Pasadena

The average salary for a Cognitive Behavioral Therapist in Pasadena is $185,118, just a little short of the annual mortgage needed. Though some Cognitive Behavioral Therapists do make more. Most salaries fall between $159,518 and $223,587.

And top earners might reach as high as $258,611, while those at the lower end of the scale earn around $136,211.

So, if Jimmy is at the height of his career, and had some help putting a downpayment on the house, and lived on a steady diet of sardines and peanut butter, then he might be able to afford living at 1849 N Michigan Ave. Still, it would be a daunting financial undertaking. And, for our math above, we’re not factoring in all of the other expenses that come with owning a home: property taxes, insurance, maintenance, and general living costs

Without a trust fund, or winning lottery numbers, Jimmy might not be holding onto his home in reality.

Could It Have Been Affordable in 2016?

But Jimmy didn’t buy his house at the start of Shrinking. So, instead, let’s imagine that the house wasn’t purchased recently but rather during its last recorded sale in 2016, when it went for $1.6 million.

At that time, mortgage rates for a 30-year fixed loan were around 3.65% (today it’s 7.232%). Assuming a 20% down payment of $320,000, the loan amount would be $1,280,000. The resulting monthly payment would be approximately $5,829, amounting to an annual mortgage cost of $69,948.

Quite a lot less than our 2024 estimate. But, therapist salaries were also lower in 2016.

Average salaries for Cognitive Behavioral Therapists in 2016 are estimated to have been between $70,000 and $100,000. At the lower end, the entire annual salary would essentially be consumed by mortgage payments alone, leaving nothing for other essential expenses.

Even at the high end of $100,000, there wouldn’t be much room for necessities like a car, utilities (water, electricity, gas), food, healthcare, transportation, insurance, etc. Considering the additional expenses required to maintain a reasonable standard of living, affording the house would have been a stretch, if not impossible.

Sorry Jimmy, you might want to consider downsizing.

A map of home prices in Pasadena, California, from Zillow

Gaby's New Ride

But Jimmy isn’t the only character living beyond his financial means within the world of Shrinking. The free-spirit therapist Gaby also plays with risk by buying a brand new Tesla Model X, which she affectionately named “Lil’ Debbie, and features prominently in the third episode of Season 1, “Fifteen Minutes.”

A brand new Tesla Model X costs $79,990—far beyond the salary of average Americans.

Gaby is recently divorced, so she’s on a single income. Though she wouldn’t be the first to live beyond her means. Auto loan debt is one of the highest forms of debt in America, just after mortgages, with $1.626 trillion owed. In 2024 the average car payment is $734 a month.

So another way of looking at Gaby’s brand new Tesla, despite her therapist-salary, is that it’s actually extremely realistic: Americans tend to live beyond their means and go into debt to do so.

But Gaby then goes above and beyond in episode of season 2. She moves out of her old place with her ex and into a new home, which is quite posh. Whatever mortgage she’s taken on, plus the cost of her Tesla, she must be living beyond her means. 

Paul's Lifestyle in Pasadena

Paul, played by Harrison Ford, is the owner of the practice that they all work at, and is an established clinician with many years of experience. He’s at the top of his career, unlike Jimmy. Considering his seniority, Paul’s salary could exceed $300,000 annually.

However, with Pasadena’s average home prices ranging from $1.18 million to $1.27 million, we can assume Paul’s house might be on the higher end of this range, perhaps closer to $1.5 million or even more, considering his established career and likely desire for a more comfortable lifestyle.

But, considering Paul’s age, he may have bought a home in Pasadena in 1990, when the average price of a home in California was $193,770, and perhaps a little high in Pasadena specifically. Paul may have lucked out and is now sitting on a healthy investment.

So, we’ll give it to Paul. Despite 2024’s affordability issues, Paul likely owns his home and can enjoy the fruits of both his luck and labor in comfort and ease (though with the way Shrinking plays out, Paul might consider changing zip codes).

The financial realities of owning a home in Pasadena, CA, like Jimmy’s home in Shrinking don’t quite align with the expected income of a Cognitive Behavioral Therapist. Without significant savings, a partner with substantial income, or some other financial windfall, it seems highly unlikely Jimmy (at least) could afford the area.

It is of course a TV show, and TV shows rarely mirror reality. Which is where suspension of disbelief plays in. But Shrinking’s depiction of affordability is, at best, an embellishment, reminding us that entertainment often prioritizes narrative convenience over real-world financial feasibility.

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