I dated a bartender for a few years and one of my best friends waits tables, so I've ended up meeting a fair number of industry people. I have no idea what you're talking about. They're almost all renters. And this is in St. Louis, where housing is cheap. (Also, I'm in my thirties. Not talking about people just starting out.)
My cousin bought his first foreclosure for 33k during the south Florida housing bust. He has two more now, all from waiting tables and being extremely thirfty.
A 140k two family amortized over 30 years at 3.5% can be free to live in for the owner occupying one unit. That can be done in Connecticut for example.
This is how some of my non colege educated millenial friends are getting by quite well.
