Former President Jimmy Carter spent his last 43 years living in a $167,000 house—less expensive than the Secret Service vehicles outside

After leaving the White House in 1981, former President Jimmy Carter spent his next 43 years living in a much more modest abode.

Carter, the nation's 39th president, died on December 29. 2024, at age 100 — the first U.S. president to ever reach his centennial birthday. Carter's funeral will be held at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. on January 9, and President Joe Biden has declared it a day of mourning for the nation.

By all accounts, Carter lived a fairly normal and frugal life until his death. He passed away in the ranch house he built himself in 1961, and will reportedly be buried on the property next to his late wife, Rosalynn, who died in 2023.

The home, in rural Plains, Georgia — about a two-and-a-half hour drive south from Atlanta — is a two-bedroom ranch most recently assessed at just $167,066, according to public property records. That is "less than the value of the armored Secret Service vehicles parked outside," the Washington Post reported in 2018.

Today, the house has an estimated price tag of $239,700, according to real estate platform Zillow — far below the median home price in Georgia, which is $326,280, according to the website.

The Carters' other frugal tendencies included spending weekends dining with neighbors on paper plates with bargain-brand wine, and making their own yogurt, the Post wrote. Carter bought some of his clothes at his local Dollar General store, according to a 2011 Rolling Stone article — he showed up for the store's opening in Plains in 2004 — and he often flew commercial.

In his later years, Carter made much of his income from writing books, the Post reported. Thriftbooks.com lists 66 books with Carter as the author, including a children's book and others reflecting on his presidency. He also received a $246,400 annual pension, as do all former presidents.

The federal government gives all ex-presidents an allowance for expenses like travel and office space. Last year, Carter received around $118,000 in such allowances, according to the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, a conservative advocacy group.

Carter's modest lifestyle was sharply different from those of the remaining living former presidents.

Donald Trump, the most recent president to vacate the White House — who will return later this month to begin a second term — has spent most of his time out of office living on his 17-acre South Florida luxury resort, Mar-a-Lago, which Forbes valued at roughly $325 million in 2023.

Barack Obama purchased an $8.1 million mansion in Washington, D.C. in 2017. The Obama family reportedly followed that with the 2019 purchase of a nearly $12 million estate on the Massachusetts island of Martha's Vineyard, and a "multi-million deal" — as described by Billboard — with audiobook and podcast service Audible.

Current President Joe Biden, has a net worth of roughly $10 million, according to Forbes' most recent estimation. And while Bill Clinton once said he left the White House $16 million in debt, he swiftly erased it with lucrative paid speeches and book deals. In Clinton's first year out of office, he gave 57 speeches and raked in $13.7 million from his "speaking and writing business," NPR reported in 2008, citing a 2001 tax return.

Clinton's real estate portfolio includes a home in Chappaqua, New York he purchased in 1999 for $1.7 million, and a home next door they reportedly bought in 2016 for $1.1 million. They also own a home in D.C. that was purchased for $2.85 million in 2000.

Former presidents can earn significant income on speaking circuits. George W. Bush pulled in roughly $15 million in his first two years out of office, according to CBS. Bush's primary residence is his sprawling, 1,600-acre ranch in Crawford, Texas. And, after leaving office in 2009, the former president bought a four-bedroom home in Dallas that's currently valued at $2.5 million, according to public property records.

But fancy living was never Carter's style. The former president reportedly declined most speaking fees, and when he did receive payment for an appearance, he often donated that money to his charity.

Instead, the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize winner told the Post in 2018: "It just never had been my ambition to be rich."

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