In my adventures as a stay-at-home dad, I’ve been watching a lot of Sesame Street with my daughter. I love the educational content and the emphasis on kindness, but there’s one thing about the show that’s been weighing on me: How old exactly is Telly? I mean, he plays games and asks questions like the other child characters, but his eyes, hair, and voice all read as “middle-aged dad who is about to turn this car around.”
Okay, all kidding aside, the real issue I constantly think about is:

What is the cost of living like on Sesame Street?

Money only pops up here and there on Sesame Street. People use an unclear number of quarters at the laundromat. The prices at Hooper’s Store and the other shops all appear highly negotiable (when there are prices at all). Waiters at Charlie’s Restaurant work on tips, but the actual meal prices are unclear. And then there’s the biggest sticking point: rent.

Bert and Ernie have a basement-level 1 bed/1 bath which they seem to struggle to afford. Of course, it’s unclear what their jobs are (aside from unknown hours and pay working tech for The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo), so maybe they’re not the best indicator of Sesame Street’s economic climate. Elmo’s family provide a more interesting case study. Elmo’s father, Louie, is a military veteran who is now a professional musician, but with his regular presence at home to help with Elmo’s bedtime routine, it’s unclear how much success he’s having in the gig economy. One video series suggested Louie’s main role now is as a stay-at-home dad, but he may also have some help from Nina, who may or may not be Elmo’s nanny (more on this below). As for Elmo’s mother, Mae, she hasn’t been shown working outside the home other than starring in informational videos for families facing the COVID-19 pandemic; it’s unknown whether this is paid or volunteer work. So, all that said, it appears Elmo’s family are able to afford a first-floor apartment in a trendy neighborhood, all of Elmo’s toys, Nina’s babysitting services, and other life necessities with their only known income being a military pension and whatever money Louie’s band brings in, which is pretty cool even if not super realistic. Elmo’s family seem like they’re living the American Dream, but not everyone on the street is so fortunate (and I don’t just mean Oscar’s living in a trashcan).

Let’s turn our attention to some of the human characters.
Sure, as the owner of the laundromat, Leela’s probably doing okay, and the profits from the upscale Hooper’s Store seem to have provided owner-operator Alan a limitless supply of stylish casual button-downs. But I’m really curious about Chris’s housing situation.

Having moved to Sesame Street in 2007 when he was still a student, Chris presumably stayed with his Uncle Gordon and Aunt Susan for a time before they were phased out of the show in 2016. Chris works in Hooper’s Store as a cashier, stocker, and attendant of the in-store cafe, and he takes frequent breaks to sing songs about vegetables and build spaceships out of cardboard. It is unclear what managerial responsibilities he may share with Alan, and it’s even less clear what pay he takes in. Per Indeed.com, average cashier pay in New York City (where Sesame Street is located) is $14.27 an hour. Assuming Chris also gets tips from the cafe, let’s up his pay to roughly $16 an hour, and if he works a forty-hour workweek (which is very rare for a cashier/barista), he’s bringing in about $33K annually. I googled a few apartments on 63rd Street near Lincoln Center (the neighborhood on which Sesame Street is based), and even the barest studios had monthly rent exceeding $2,000, leaving Chris with less than $750 a month for bills, food, insurance, student loans, and brightly striped polo shirts. Thus, Chris either has very generous roommates, is independently wealthy, or commutes. If Hooper’s really is his only source of income, he can’t afford to shop there.

Then there’s Nina.
I don’t think Nina sleeps.
Unlike Chris, Nina is confirmed to live in the 123 Sesame Street apartment building where Elmo, Abby, Rudy, Bert, and Ernie also reside. It’s a little harder to pin down Nina’s exact income, but her workload is… ambitious. Nina helps out at the laundromat alongside Grover and Leela, works at the bicycle shop (which she purchases and reopens in season 47), dog-sits for her neighbors, and studies for her engineering degree. Per actress Suki Lopez (who plays Nina), Nina also serves as Elmo’s nanny, but it’s unknown what her hours are since, as previously stated, Elmo’s parents’ work schedules are unclear. Think about her work schedule though: even if Nina’s work at the laundromat is only part-time, she still owns and manages a business, has a side-job, and maintains two additional gig-based revenue streams, all while still in school. Nina would have to work somewhere around 80-100 hours a week to do all that, and then she also trains and runs Tough Mudder races as seen in episode 5111! And yet, on top of all this work, Nina still finds time to play catch with Rosita and sing songs about sock puppets with Big Bird and Snuffleupagus. So yeah, as I said before: I don’t think Nina sleeps.

What makes Chris and Nina’s cases so fascinating to me are the ways they embody the Millennials’ bitter economic reality. Chris had family in the neighborhood who were able to help him out while in school, and now, with 14 years in a low-paying job at a local business, he’s either just scraping by or crashing on The Count’s couch. He doesn’t appear to be using his degree, and his current job offers little potential for advancement (at least until Alan leaves the show). Nina, on the other hand, works countless hours in multiple jobs so she can acquire an education, become her own boss at the bike shop, and live independently in the upscale Sesame Street neighborhood. She’s working on a STEM degree which will hopefully provide greater job security than the bike shop, but in the meantime, Nina is very much subject to the fluctuations of the local economy (which may or may not be cookie-based). Despite their Sisyphean economic scenarios, Nina and Chris make the best of things and look for the joyful moments in life by singing songs, playing games, and so on with their fuzzy neighbors. Still, it’s in spite of the economic conditions on Sesame Street —not because of them— that Chris and Nina thrive.

Ugh, this turned bleak.
Millennial finances are even a downer on children’s television!
How can I end this on a high note?
Um… uh… here’s Billy Porter singing about being friends with a penguin!