How much money family of 4 needs to live comfortably in U.S. cities
By: mike-wintrs (CNBC)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A family of four needs to make more than $275,000 to live comfortably in some of the most expensive U.S. cities, a recent SmartAsset analysis reveals.
"Comfortable" is defined as the income needed to cover a 50/30/20 budget for a family of two adults and two kids. This budget assumes that 50% of the monthly income can pay for necessities like housing and utility costs, 30% can cover discretionary spending and 20% can be set aside for savings or investments.
SmartAsset extrapolated the income needed for a 50/30/20 budget based on the cost of necessities, using data from the MIT Living Wage Calculator.
Here's a look how much income a family of four needs to live comfortably in the 20 most expensive U.S. cities:
- San Francisco: $339,123
- San Jose, California: $334,547
- Boston: $319,738
- Arlington, Virginia: $318,573
- New York City: $318,406
- Oakland, California: $316,243
- Urban Honolulu, Hawaii: $299,520
- Irvine, California: $291,450
- Santa Ana, California: $291,450
- Portland, Oregon: $289,786
- San Diego: $289,453
- Chula Vista, California: $289,453
- Newark, New Jersey: $285,043
- Jersey City, New Jersey: $285,043
- Seattle: $283,712
- Aurora, Colorado: $280,467
- Long Beach, California: $280,218
- Anaheim, California: $280,218
- Los Angeles: $276,557
- Washington, D.C.: $275,642
San Francisco is the most expensive overall, with an income of $339,123 needed for a family of four. That's followed by other cities known for having notoriously expensive housing costs, including Boston, New York City, Honolulu and Los Angeles.
In California, homes are about twice as expensive as the typical U.S. home, according to the Legislative Analyst's Office, a nonpartisan government agency in that state. The state also has the fourth-highest cost of living in the U.S., based on 2023 Council for Community & Economic Research survey data.
Out of all 99 cities SmartAsset examined, a family of four would need a median of $226,886 to live comfortably. In Houston, the income needed drops to $175,219 — the lowest of all cities examined. But that's still higher than the median family income in the U.S. of $92,750, according to the most recent U.S. Census bureau data available.
While employers in these high-cost cities tend to offer higher-than-average salaries as a way to attract and retain talent, housing costs can make it difficult to maintain a 50/30/20 budget.
And in large cities, housing costs often exceed 30% of a household income, leaving little room for other necessities like utilities, food and transportation. To make ends meet, families might skip out on homeownership, owning a vehicle or discretionary purchases.
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The median household income in New York City is around $75,000. The average household income is around $115,000.
We live in a town and in a house that we can afford. I could not afford to live in any of those cities so I don't. Living there is a choice, a bad one if they can't afford it.
Do you think all those one percenters are going to cut their own hair or dry clean their own clothes?
Do you think taxpayers should pay so the one percenters can have someone cut their hair and do their dry cleaning?
In the real world or in your ideal world ?
Lower income people pay more than half their income on rent and utilities. Does NYC, or any city, have enough available low income housing ? This IS a governmental issue.
What are you advocating?
You never answered the actual question.
The real world of course. If you can't afford to live someplace go someplace you can afford or get a job that makes more.
This IS NOT a government issue.
all big cities need more affordable housing. developers need concessions from the GOVERNMENT to want to do that.
our society just kicks this immense problem down the road
It was government that caused the mess. The Housing bubble was caused by government changing lending standards.
Its hard to talk to you.
New York City has a lot of service jobs or jobs that are associated with services (let's say a produce truck driver for example). If people who cant afford to live in NYC all leave, who will do these jobs ?
Either answer the question or stop talking.
I don't care who cuts the hair of the one percent. It is nice you seem so concerned for them though.
it is not surprising that you would come up with an "answer" like that
It is not surprising that you would ask a question like that
If the 1% want the work done, they will raise the wages. Why should the government subsidize the 1%'s service workers?
Really? where do you get that idea?
If they don't raise the wage and the service worker leaves, then the work is undone.
so you want the millions of low wage workers in NY to go on strike for affordable housing. ok
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An accurate portrayal of your comment isn't trolling John copy and paste where they made this argument or STFU.
take your complaints to perrie, i am not going to debate you on your behavior
Interesting, I don't think that is what he said at all.
Accurately pointing out you inaccuracies isn't behavior John, it is just inconvenient for you.
No, I didn't say anything of the sort. I said that if pay is insufficient to live on in NYC, and workers are willing to leave, then either pay goes up or work isn't done.
Pay should be a balancing act between:
If you can't afford to cover the first three bullets, then it's time to reassess and:
Concessions to developers to build low-income housing in cities?
I'm ok with it as long as it is confined to major cities.
and people wonder why some folks are on government assistance.
Government Assistance = Taxpayer Dollars.
Why should others pay for people to live above their means?
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Because unfettered capitalism dictates that the employers won't.
So.people can do what they want and someone else gets to pay for it. Good luck with that
Or wants
Are you looking to fetter capitalism with wage and price controls?
No, piss poor job skills and abundance of supply (stupid people) dictate wages. People get what they are worth, nothing more.
so if people who are indispensable to the functioning of new york city have to pay more than half their wages on rent and utilities, fuck em. That is your solution .
If people are truly indispensable, they have leverage to demand more pay. Is the typical self stocker at the bodega truly indispensable or are there others with sufficient skills to replace him at the same pay level?
The same pay level? are you kidding? the democrats have been importing millions of workers, and Abbott and DeSantis have been kindly shipping them to NY, so now NY has an abundance of unskilled workers, and these new ones aren't used the same standard of living and haven't spent the last 20 years being told they are worth more than they actually are.
how many low wage jobs are there in NYC ?
the issue is not who will be holding these jobs - the issue is how can these people afford rent ?
Move
I don't know, how many?
By making more money or moving where cost aren't so high.
Housing cost in NYC are due to:
You think those don't already exist???????
So how much do you think a "skilled" McDonalds employee would make??? Or a "skilled" retail employee?
That's a whole lot of hate and ignorance regarding folks making ends meet at sometimes the only job they can get. Heaven forbid people get a living wage.
Yeah, rent and food and medication - luxuries.
How much should they make?
Does Joe have some double secret controls in place
Heaven forbid people work hard or get training so they can get a better job that pays a living wage when they can make "sucking off the government teat" a career choice.
No we don't, it's just the democrats using other peoples money to buy votes.
The big problem these days is that first number which used to be 25% of income spent on rent/housing. That number has doubled according to this but is really above 50% of one's income.
So, what has caused this dramatic rise in rent/housing?
I don't buy cars or houses that I can't afford. I can't afford to live in Arlington, Virginia, so I live a little further out in the Fairfax County suburbs.
My sister lives in Fairfax county suburbs
There goes the neighborhood