The NYT asked a question that's been on movie lovers' minds for years now -- just how rich were the McCallisters??? They ended up consulting experts at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago -- plus diving into a ton of other research -- to get somewhat of a clear answer.

For starters, the outlet went to real estate sites like Realtor.com to gauge where exactly they lived in Chi-Town -- and about how much their mansion might've cost back in the late '80s/early '90s, the period in which the film is depicted. 'Memba, it came out in 1990.

Per the Times, the house that was used as the famous exterior for 'HA' actually belongs to a super ritzy burb in Chicago called Winnetka -- one of the most expensive neighborhoods in America. Based on median incomes for folks who lived there back in the day ... the economists the NYT consulted peg the McCallisters as a likely $305,000/year household.

Mind you, they landed on that amount for the time period ... so, adjusted for inflation, that comes out to about $665,000/year in 2022. In other words, they're pretty GD rich.

Now, in terms of how Kevin McCallister and co. made that type of money and what his parents might've done for work -- the Times uses context clues in the movie to speculate that the mom was a successful fashion designer, and that pops was a general businessman.

It's a pretty fascinating deep dive into the beloved classic -- and if they were, in fact, as ballin' as the Times suggests ... it makes sense why the Wet Bandits targeted their home.