Recently, the term "living burden" has been a hot topic in American society. From coast to inland, from affluent neighborhoods to working-class communities, this topic is everywhere. Housing, food, daily expenses—everything is outrageously expensive, and middle-income workers are almost being pushed out of the places they've called home for years.

This feeling of living paycheck to paycheck has even changed the political landscape in some areas. More and more people are fleeing high-cost regions. Coastal cities are too expensive, so they move to the Midwest—where housing prices are lower, rents are cheaper, and wage growth is more stable. It sounds like a lifeline, so the population flow to the Midwest has become a major trend.

But things are rarely that simple. A large influx of homebuyers into the Midwest has actually started to push up local housing prices. Originally, they were trying to escape soaring prices, but now they find that their "refuge" is also becoming more expensive. Local residents watch housing prices soar day by day, and their anxiety rises—it's not just newcomers snapping up homes, but local young people are also increasingly unable to afford them. This economic tug-of-war between regions reflects the deep-seated contradictions in the entire country's housing market.