Do you earn enough to ‘live comfortably’ in these California cities?
While inflation is cooling, the cost of living remains very high in many areas of the United States. So high that a record number of Americans are working more than one job, according to the latest federal data.
Even though you may be seeing a slightly larger paycheck this year, it may still not be enough to “live comfortably.”
A new report from personal finance site SmartAsset reviewed what it takes to live a comfortable financial life in the 100 largest cities in the U.S. The study used the estimated living wage needed for various family sizes, produced by the MIT Living Wage Calculator, and applied it to the 50/30/20 budgeting method. The rule suggests that half of your budget should cover your needs, 30% goes toward “wants,” and 20% for debt, saving, or investing.
By using the estimated living wage as the money necessary to cover “needs,” SmartAsset calculated the salary necessary to cover the other half of the budget (wants and debt or savings). While MIT provides living wage estimates for 12 different family structures, SmartAsset focused on two: one adult with no children and two working adults with two children.
The analysis found that cities primarily in the south and southeastern part of the country are the most affordable, with no city serving as the most affordable option for both single adults and working families (last year, Houston secured that title).
Across the nation’s largest cities, Indianapolis ranked as the most affordable for a single adult, according to SmartAsset. There, you need only to earn $85,197 a year to afford your wants, needs, and savings goals. The Indiana city narrowly edged out Oklahoma City by less than $250.
Indianapolis isn’t affordable enough for a family of four, however. With a necessary estimated salary of around $222,700, it ranked No. 28 overall. Instead, SmartAsset determined that Memphis, Tennessee, would offer the most affordable life for a family.
There, a combined salary of just under $198,400 could provide a family with enough to live out the 50/30/20 budgeting rule. Only three other cities were found to have necessary salaries below $200,000: Greensboro, North Carolina; San Antonio, Texas; and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Below are the cities where “living comfortably” is most affordable for a single adult and a family of four where both adults are working:
| Cheapest cities for individuals | Cheapest cities for 2 adults with 2 children |
| Indianapolis, Indiana ($85,197) | Memphis, Tennessee ($198,349) |
| Oklahoma City, Oklahoma ($85,446) | Greensboro, North Carolina ($198,515) |
| Tulsa, Oklahoma ($85,571) | San Antonio, Texas ($199,181) |
| New Orleans, Louisiana ($86,445) | Baton Rouge, Louisiana ($199,846) |
| Albuquerque, New Mexico ($86,611) | Winston-Salem, North Carolina ($201,011) |
| San Antonio, Texas ($86,694) | New Orleans, Louisiana ($201,178) |
| Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Tucson, Arizona ($86,736) | Huntsville, Alabama ($205,421) |
| Spokane, Washington ($87,818) | Houston, Texas ($206,669) |
| Baltimore, Maryland ($87,984) | Orlando, Florida ($207,501) |
As it did last year, SmartAsset found that cities on both coasts are drastically more expensive for singles and a family of four.
For both family sizes, San Jose, California, ranks as the most expensive. An individual would need to earn slightly over $147,400 to live comfortably while a family of four would require over $371,500.
In Fact, SmartAsset’s analysis found five of the most expensive metro areas for individuals and for a family of four are in California.
| Most expensive cities for individuals | Most expensive cities for 2 adults with 2 children |
| San Jose, California ($147,430) | San Jose, California ($371,571) |
| New York, New York ($136,656) | San Francisco, California ($366,829) |
| Anaheim, Irvine, and Santa Ana, California ($133,952) | Arlington, Virginia ($355,430) |
| Boston, Massachusetts ($133,578) | Boston, Massachusetts ($352,102) |
| Seattle, Washington ($128,211) | Oakland and Fremont, California ($343,949) |
| San Diego and Chula Vista, California ($127,754) | Seattle, Washington ($327,475) |
| Arlington, Virginia ($127,046) | New York, New York ($306,093) |
| Honolulu, Hawaii ($124,883) | Washington, District of Columbia ($305,427) |
| Oakland and Fremont, California ($124,592) | Honolulu, Hawaii ($303,098) |
| San Francisco, California ($121,930) | Anaheim, Irvine, and Santa Ana, California ($301,600) |
For nearly all cities, it costs more to “live comfortably” than it did last year. A family of four in San Jose, for example, needs roughly $37,000 more compared to SmartAsset’s 2024 report. The same family in Arlington, Virginia, would require nearly $40,000 more than last year.
The most affordable California city on the list was Bakersfield, where a single adult needs to earn $94,000 per year and a family of four needs $225,000 to “live comfortably.”
Of the cities listed above, only New York saw its estimated necessary salary drop. Last year, it was the most expensive metro for a single adult at more than $138,500 — that’s roughly $2,000 higher than this year’s estimate.
You can view SmartAsset’s full list here.
Don’t see your city listed? You can find your city, county or state on MIT’s Living Wage Calculator, then find the required annual income after taxes and multiply it by two.
Nationally, SmartAsset found that the salary necessary to avoid living paycheck to paycheck in the largest metros is above the median household by about $5,000.
Earlier this month, a measure of consumer sentiment fell sharply for the third straight month and is now down more than 20% since December. Respondents to the University of Michigan’s survey cited policy uncertainty as a leading reason for the gloomier outlook. While the respondents were divided sharply by party — sentiment about the current economy fell among Republican by much less than for Democrats — Republicans’ confidence in the economy’s future dropped 10%.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.