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Do you think you make enough to afford to live comfortably in California?
With high inflation and cost of living expenses, it can be hard to feel financially secure, especially for Golden State residents.
Using data from the latest MIT Living Wage Calculator and the 50/30/20 budgeting method, Smart Asset calculated the after-tax salary a single person without kids would need to earn to “live comfortably” in 25 of the largest cities in the U.S., including those in California.
The 50/30/20 budgeting method separates one’s budget into three categories: basic living expenses, discretionary spending, and saving or paying off debt.
The budgeting method calls for 50% of the salary to be used to pay for basic living expenses, for example, rent and bills; 30% would be used for personal spending and 20% would be put into a savings account or used to pay down debt.
The data used in the study analyzed the cost of living in each city as of 2022.
For California cities like Los Angeles, Berkeley and San Diego, a single person must make more than $76,000 to “live comfortably,” the data shows.
This is how much individuals need to make to afford to live in these California cities:
City
After-tax salary needed to live comfortably
San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA
$84,026
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
$79,324
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
$76,710
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
$67,060
It’s not surprising that people living in California needed to have high salaries to “live comfortably” in the Golden State.
In contrast, people in St. Louis, Detroit and San Antonio needed to make between $57,000 to $60,000 after taxes to afford a comfortable life. Those were considered the top three places where a high salary wasn’t needed to “live comfortably” according to Smart Asset.
These places don’t require a high salary in the U.S.:
City
After-tax salary needed to live comfortably
St. Louis, Missouri
$57,446
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Michigan
$58,358
San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas
$59,270
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Camden, New Jersey Wilmington, Delaware
While California ranks third-most expensive for a single adult to live comfortably at $113,652, it only ranks fifth-most expensive for two working adults raising two children. The total family income should be at least $276,724 in the latter case.
But just how much does a single person in California need to make to live comfortably? A new study from Smart Asset determined that a person must make at least $ 89,190 to get by comfortably.
New study breaks it down. How rich is rich in California? As of 2022, the top 5% of earners in the state made $613,602 a year on average, according to a recent analysis from personal finance site GoBankingRates. That's roughly a 37% increase from 2017, when top earners raked in an average annual income of $447,207.
SmartAsset says a single working adult must earn at least $114,000, or about $55 an hour, to support themselves in the Golden State. When it comes to a basic “living wage,” MIT says a single adult in California needs to earn $27.32 per hour or $56,800 per year.
California's minimum is high enough to ensure that full-time workers earn more than the federal poverty threshold. The state's expensive cost of living, however, means a minimum wage income might not be enough to make ends meet.
California ranks number 4 out of 50 states nationwide for 30$ An Hour job salaries. To estimate the most accurate annual salary range for 30$ An Hour jobs, ZipRecruiter continuously scans its database of millions of active jobs published locally throughout America.
You'll need to earn more than half a million annually to be considered among the highest earning residents in 11 states and Washington, D.C. "This comes down to cost of living," Murray said.
Your household would need to earn at least $64,224 to be considered middle class in the Garden State, and earning more than $192,692 would put you in the upper class.
On average, an individual needs $96,500 for sustainable comfort in a major U.S. city, data showed. It's even more expensive for families, who need to make an average combined income of about $235,000 to support two adults and two children.
Median Household Income: $91,905. Average Household Income: $130,718. Per Capita Income: $45,591. 17.9% of Households in California are High Income Households that make over $200,000 a year.
Zillow says seven metropolitan areas in the U.S., including four in California, require homebuyers to have an annual income of $200,000 or more to comfortably afford a home. Here's where and the annual income needed to comfortably afford a home: San Jose - $454,296. San Francisco - $339,864.
In California, the middle class income range for 2022 was $61,270 to $183,810. Compare that to the average in 2012, which was $40,933 to $122,800. That's a 10-year change of 49.68%. Those figures pushed California to #4 on the list ranking U.S. states where the middle class income has increased.
Introduction: My name is Chrissy Homenick, I am a tender, funny, determined, tender, glorious, fancy, enthusiastic person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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