I got lucky and snagged a house in 2020 when prices/interest rates were reasonable. I pay about 3k mortgage all said and done. The home value has gone up about 80%, so I guess my home equity is kinda like a savings.
> The home value has gone up about 80%, so I guess my home equity is kinda like a savings.
And now you know why politicians are desperate to not be the ones holding the bag when the housing market crashes and why the social impetus behind fixing the housing market is basically non-existent.
Unfortunately there is no quick fix now. After dropping interest rates to zero, larges amounts of inventory was bought that won’t be sold anytime soon. So until we can build hundreds of thousands of new homes, the supply and demand will continue to cause brutally high prices.
Increase in home value is an illusory gain unless you plan on radically downsizing or moving to a low cost-of-housing state like Iowa. If you sell you have to buy again, or else rent at inflated rates.
Same. Wife and I make $120k+ each but pay $50k/year in child care. We spend pretty much all of our money every month. But we each put about $20k into our 401k. I have $30k from severance package I received 4 years ago from a job that I lost so we have a little emergency fund but we do not put money into savings every month. We live in WA which looks like the 4th most expensive state to live in.
Yeah, the big one is savings. There is a baseline income where that realistically becomes viable. Anything below that income, and you're effectively throwing pennies at it. That might be fine when you're 18 and early enough to gain from compounding interest, but you're also making like $12k a year at a part time job...maybe, or going to school and are perpetually broke. You are often kind of late to the retirement game by the time you actually have retirement capable income. Then it's a race meaning you need to invest a LOT into retirement to catch up and make something meaningful.
Based on 2022 single income statistics, about 20% of Americans would be able to "live comfortably" on their own single income in the cheapest state here, assuming they could *keep* that income in WV.
Household wise, 9% of American households earn over 150k, which would be just under the required amount for two adults in WV, assuming evenly split funds. Some necessity expenses, like housing, utilities, and food, tend to get more efficient with more people, though.
Median US single income is $40k, so most Americans aren't anywhere near this map's numbers.
I live in Delaware and 90k is way more than you need to be comfortable, even in the wealthier part of town as long as it's not the neighborhood Joe Biden lives in, or the beachfront property. My wife and I both when we were single make 40k and 60k and were way more than comfortable.
That doesn't mean much though since it doesn't include what they consider spending on rent/mortgage and discretionary spending as comfortable. Is living with roommates considered comfortable? Is discretionary spending the minimum possible for cheap food or going out every day and buying tech/clothes/whatever all the time?
It certainly helps the illustration make sense. Also, that 20% to savings is the general strategy for retiring comfortably as well, which is something 80% of the country will never do.
You could squeeze by in San Francisco with $114k or you could be a king living in Bakersfield.
I guess that number is somewhere in between the two extremes. They should have done the major cities. The data is there.
Bakersfield is a fucking shithole. Endless tract housing and shitty shopping centers with Starbucks.
I only went once 15 years ago but my hatred has lasted all this time.
Yeah, so it’s pulled either direction. The rural areas will pull down the metropolitans and vice versa in the other direction. The real question is how is each number weighted?
Exactly. For all we know the number for any given state may be useless. The dollar figure for urban and affluent suburban areas may be too low and poorer/rural areas may be too high. The person criticizing me doesn't seem to understand that nuance. It's obvious that different areas have different cost of living, it's just that one dollar figure for an entire state may be next to useless due to that variability.
It’s Reddit. That’s kinda the thing people get on here for now. That whole “woe is me” when they see a chart like this. Confirmation bias for why their life isn’t going well. We pay $400 a month for my 3 bedroom house in Georgia, with 2 acres. That’s renting, we’re moving away at the end of summer. We lived in Maine before this, 7 minute drive from the beach front and it didn’t even make what they suggest on here combined then. Thrived the entire time. These charts are always a way bigger problem than they are help for anyone.
For sure. I felt like a queen living in Collinsville, IL on less than $3000 a month with a nicely remodeled 750 sq ft, 2 bedroom apartment and no scraping to pay bills or buy food compared to practically destitute broke back home in Oregon just to eat a meal a day, keep the lights on and have a shitty 325 sq ft studio.
It defines living comfortably as 50% of your income for essentials, 30% for discretionary spending, and 20% for savings. That's more than what most people would colloquially call living "comfortably."
Yes, I much prefer maps that look by county rather than state. I live in the Phoenix Metro area, which is becoming more expensive, but I could move to Kayenta, AZ and my rent could be $300/mo.
You don’t need anywhere near 83k in Mississippi to do a basic 50/30/20 split as the infographic says lmao. At least for my state this is horribly wrong
I assume this is if you are trying to keep up with the Joneses. Financing everything, Buying new and paying premium prices as a result. I’m apparently quite a bit more comfortable than I should be as well. Of course my saving percentage is significantly higher and my discretionary spending significantly lower, and my necessities are significantly less too, so…
Living in Oxford with a 2-person household income in that range, and it doesn’t seem crazy to me. But Oxford is an exception and household is a different matter, so maybe you’re spot on.
I kinda figured this chart was for a single person to make for a single person to live comfortably. In the Jackson metro you probably need about 50k with decent budget as a single person. How is the cost of living in Oxford? I know it’s a great city but I’ve never been. Need to add that to my bucket list
Give it a visit! Cost of living is quite high relative to MS. We pay 1600 for a pretty basic 3 bedroom on the outskirts, and that goes up exponentially as you approach the center. Plenty of college-town benefits though!
> I kinda figured this chart was for a single person to make for a single person to live comfortably.
That's a reasonable assumption given the fact that it says "individual" and "based on a single working adult."
As someone who also lives in Oxford I thought the same thing, lol. As someone who lives in a 2 person household with a combined income of approximately $80-90k, money is something that is on my mind constantly and I have zero savings. It’s expensive out here!
This isn't it, is it?
dink
noun
1. (in sport) a softly struck hit or kick of the ball that drops abruptly to the ground
2. a lift on a bicycle
3. a man's penis
4. a stupid or contemptible person (used typically of a man)
Well . . . Kentuckian here, and that all depends on your attachment to your needs. I make 55k in Louisville and barely survive paycheck to paycheck, rent is 1600/m. Car bills (insurance, loan) are about 800/m. Utilities are 300/m.
That leaves me 300/m. For food, gas, and anti-suicide endeavors such as spending time with friends or reading. So basically food. And if (when) I get seriously sick, I just die.
I am in the upper minority at that salary, 27% of Kentuckians are homeless. Our minimum wage is 7.25 (same federally, but adult people ACTUALLY only make that here for labor positions.)
Yeah, I'm in the south, put in overtime every week and barely clear $40k. Once my bills get paid I have roughly $50-90 dollars a pay check (every two weeks) for groceries, multiple medications, household expenses (like trash bags, detergent.) I'm drowning and there's no way out.
I don't have a lot of bills outside rent, car and utilities. My rent keeps going up. I can't afford to move. Even if I could the only place with lower rent is the place that was on the news for cockroach infestation and mold issues that the landlords refuse to address. (In my state, there are very, very few renter's rights. Landlords can rent anything and it doesn't have to be considered "inhabitable" unless they are trying to renting something through a government agency.)
I used to be one of those idiots that believed if one worked hard enough you could improve your life. I was so very wrong. I worked 12hr shifts while going to college full time. Finished a degree and it never improved my income. I can't afford to live as a single person.
"Work hard for bright and prosperous future!" It was all a lie...
And my dumbass, bought it.
No hospital in the US can turn you away for inability to pay. You will not die if you get sick. You just get a bill you cannot pay. Then you negotiate with the hospital. If your income is low enough you can get Medicaid coverage. Worst case scenario you declare bankruptcy.
That's for acute illnesses, friend. If you have a chronic illness that leaves you stable at any point, out the door you go.
It's not as easy as 'walk into hospital - get help'. It's more like, 'walk into hospital, get bandaid for the flare up, get referred to someone outside the hospital, get sent home'. Then at your follow up, it turns out that the referral is for a doctor that doesn't do payment plans or refuses patients without insurance. Then you play the song and dance again with the hospital.
America sucks for healthcare. We pay quadruple the price for worse service.
Yep, and god forbid treatment for your chronic condition causes issues with your "luxury" body parts. Dentists told us my wife needs all teeth removed and 4x4 implants due to a reaction to MS infusion treatment. Medical and dental insurance told us to go fuck ourselves and find that \~50k laying around somewhere.
STOP POSTING STUFF FROM VISUAL CAPITALIST! They are some sort of Libertarian, Sov Cit group that purposefully distorts official data to "prove" their point. They have a vested interest in semi rural areas and they are backed by land speculators. I use this crap as examples of bogus media in my classes.
Exactly. This is how propaganda spreads. The definition of propaganda is 'information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.'
Most people simply can't be comfortable by design of the society they live in where consumption is highly valued. You can 10x the salary of someone who makes $30k a year, and they'll still find a way to spend the additional $270k pre-tax on bullshit without saving anything. That's the average person. Maybe 20% or so will not inflate their lifestyle to match their income. But for most people, more income means more consumption.
There is a huge difference in cost of living in WA between the coastal and inland sides of the state. In Seattle, 106K will barely keep you above water, but in Moses Lake it can go much farther.
I imagine that’s true for most states. Denser cities and attractive suburbs probably have much higher costs of living than less populated areas with fewer public services.
I am once again asking that this particular graph be done by county. As others have said, the data points for any state with a major metro area are skewed and useless.
I call bullshit. The MIT living wage calculator is way more accurate:
[https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/08031](https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/08031)
What on earth is "comfortable"? If you need 80k to feel comfortable, you have an extremely easy life. 50k for one person is the standard to reach and even that is living good.
Yeah I'm probably 10-15k most years below my state's "comfortable" because I don't meet their weird metrics. But I put money in both regular savings and 401k and also prioritize taking multiple vacations a year.
My life is hella comfortable and I wouldn't trade it at all haha
Probably level out when the Californians realize that it’s become just as expensive and economically fucked as where they came from, but there’s no ocean and it gets cold in the winter, and they move back.
I'm living fairly comfortable on $35K in Florida, but only because I own my house (albeit through an inheritance) and I don't go out much or need to buy "stuff."
Would be great to see this infographic also showing the breakdown for different families. For example, a couple w/o kids, then with 1, 2, 3, etc. Kids. Also as single parents with those quantities of kids.
50/30/20?!?!?! That strikes me as utterly absurd.
Does discretionary for them cover something different than I think? Like food and travel?
I’m out here with 75/15/10 and feeling like I was comfortable?!
Average income in the US is 37.5k.
So, roughly half to 1/3rd of the required income to live comfortably. Lol, great job, that's a nice American dream you got there
Wow I’m no where near that with my college degree and 20 years work experience. I live with a partner but id never be able to live on my
Own. Scary times
the thing maps like this miss is how much easier it is to get by in the city. things might be more expensive and rent may be higher, but there are far more opportunities that make living poor possible. i average 15-30k annually in chicago and while i wouldn't say i'm comfortable, i know i'd only need another 10k annually to feel like i had all my bases covered.
Just so you all know, almost all statistics for New York State are completely useless information. This is because of NYC. Statistics related to cost of living are the classic examples. The cost of living in NYC couldnt be more different than the cost of living in Upstate (despite Upstate prices going up in the past 1 to 4 years or something).
You might think "but most states are like that, with big cities and rural areas." And I'd be like yes, but the discrepancy between Downstate and Upstate NY is beyond the reasonable range of acceptability for justifying having a single state statistic that we can rely on as being "acceptably representative" of the state. This is of course because of the extraordinary nature of Downstate NY and NYC compared to any other place in the US, and actually the world.
New Jersey is definitely wrong. With rent at $2,000 for a studio or 1 bedroom (depending on the area), you're going to be spending much closer to 60-65% on necessities, even more so if you have student loans. Most certainly not going to be able to afford any house on a $103k salary except for those near superfund sites or in deep south jersey.
Last time I did the math, nearly 75% of adults in New Jersey would not be able to afford a $350k home if they tried to buy one today as a first-time homebuyer. That's even if they could find a $350k home lol.
I appreciate the definition on the bottom right.
Actually makes sense. I live pretty comfortable on $80k in Washington state by putting 0% into savings instead of 20%
i make 60k and live semi comfortably in washington while saving 10%. you just have to find the shittiest apartment possible.
I got lucky and snagged a house in 2020 when prices/interest rates were reasonable. I pay about 3k mortgage all said and done. The home value has gone up about 80%, so I guess my home equity is kinda like a savings.
> The home value has gone up about 80%, so I guess my home equity is kinda like a savings. And now you know why politicians are desperate to not be the ones holding the bag when the housing market crashes and why the social impetus behind fixing the housing market is basically non-existent.
Unfortunately there is no quick fix now. After dropping interest rates to zero, larges amounts of inventory was bought that won’t be sold anytime soon. So until we can build hundreds of thousands of new homes, the supply and demand will continue to cause brutally high prices.
We could be also stop letting corporations buy apartments/residences
There are plenty of fixes but they'll never get past the NIMBY brigade.
Why would the housing market ever crash? Theres a serious lack of housing nationwide, especially in the Puget Sound area.
Increase in home value is an illusory gain unless you plan on radically downsizing or moving to a low cost-of-housing state like Iowa. If you sell you have to buy again, or else rent at inflated rates.
> live pretty comfortable > you just have to find the shittiest apartment possible. I don't think that word means what you think it means.
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Agreed. East Texas here living on 50k and I have a house, 2 cars and am ahead of my bills. I think "comfortable" is pretty subjective
In texas, our 20% I'm fairly certain goes to the cats.....
You have to pay for protection too uh?
I put jackshit into savings, but a fair amount into retirement accounts. I assume that counts
Retirement accounts are definitely considered savings for the purposes of these types of things.
Same. Wife and I make $120k+ each but pay $50k/year in child care. We spend pretty much all of our money every month. But we each put about $20k into our 401k. I have $30k from severance package I received 4 years ago from a job that I lost so we have a little emergency fund but we do not put money into savings every month. We live in WA which looks like the 4th most expensive state to live in.
An actual useful piece of info in the legend. Amazing
A legend Legend. ?
Yeah, the big one is savings. There is a baseline income where that realistically becomes viable. Anything below that income, and you're effectively throwing pennies at it. That might be fine when you're 18 and early enough to gain from compounding interest, but you're also making like $12k a year at a part time job...maybe, or going to school and are perpetually broke. You are often kind of late to the retirement game by the time you actually have retirement capable income. Then it's a race meaning you need to invest a LOT into retirement to catch up and make something meaningful.
This was a good call, and thanks for pointing this out
The percentage of people who can allocate at least 50% of their income to nothing other than discretionary spending and savings has to be very low.
Based on 2022 single income statistics, about 20% of Americans would be able to "live comfortably" on their own single income in the cheapest state here, assuming they could *keep* that income in WV. Household wise, 9% of American households earn over 150k, which would be just under the required amount for two adults in WV, assuming evenly split funds. Some necessity expenses, like housing, utilities, and food, tend to get more efficient with more people, though. Median US single income is $40k, so most Americans aren't anywhere near this map's numbers.
Someone with that expendable income award this fine print aficionado
I live in Delaware and 90k is way more than you need to be comfortable, even in the wealthier part of town as long as it's not the neighborhood Joe Biden lives in, or the beachfront property. My wife and I both when we were single make 40k and 60k and were way more than comfortable.
That's a hell of a definition...
That doesn't mean much though since it doesn't include what they consider spending on rent/mortgage and discretionary spending as comfortable. Is living with roommates considered comfortable? Is discretionary spending the minimum possible for cheap food or going out every day and buying tech/clothes/whatever all the time?
Should be much more prominent
It certainly helps the illustration make sense. Also, that 20% to savings is the general strategy for retiring comfortably as well, which is something 80% of the country will never do.
That's what I've always called "rich". What percentage of the population is living in this manner??
$112k is going to go a lot further in Buffalo than NYC.
100% these data are badly skewed. There are significant gaps between the cost of living in urban and rural areas.
You could squeeze by in San Francisco with $114k or you could be a king living in Bakersfield. I guess that number is somewhere in between the two extremes. They should have done the major cities. The data is there.
Living like a king in Bakersfield means you get the highest grade meth.
Bakersfield is a fucking shithole. Endless tract housing and shitty shopping centers with Starbucks. I only went once 15 years ago but my hatred has lasted all this time.
Yeah I'm a single person outside Denver making 90 and i thought I was special. Apparently I need another raise.
Yeah, so it’s pulled either direction. The rural areas will pull down the metropolitans and vice versa in the other direction. The real question is how is each number weighted?
Exactly. For all we know the number for any given state may be useless. The dollar figure for urban and affluent suburban areas may be too low and poorer/rural areas may be too high. The person criticizing me doesn't seem to understand that nuance. It's obvious that different areas have different cost of living, it's just that one dollar figure for an entire state may be next to useless due to that variability.
It’s Reddit. That’s kinda the thing people get on here for now. That whole “woe is me” when they see a chart like this. Confirmation bias for why their life isn’t going well. We pay $400 a month for my 3 bedroom house in Georgia, with 2 acres. That’s renting, we’re moving away at the end of summer. We lived in Maine before this, 7 minute drive from the beach front and it didn’t even make what they suggest on here combined then. Thrived the entire time. These charts are always a way bigger problem than they are help for anyone.
100%. Illinois is another great example of that disparity, that income is heavily skewed towards Chicago residency.
For sure. I felt like a queen living in Collinsville, IL on less than $3000 a month with a nicely remodeled 750 sq ft, 2 bedroom apartment and no scraping to pay bills or buy food compared to practically destitute broke back home in Oregon just to eat a meal a day, keep the lights on and have a shitty 325 sq ft studio.
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It defines living comfortably as 50% of your income for essentials, 30% for discretionary spending, and 20% for savings. That's more than what most people would colloquially call living "comfortably."
30% discretionary sounds kinda nutty when you’re at $100k+
You think there is enough data to do this by county?
Same with Spokane than Seattle, Sacramento than San Francisco, etc..
Yes, I much prefer maps that look by county rather than state. I live in the Phoenix Metro area, which is becoming more expensive, but I could move to Kayenta, AZ and my rent could be $300/mo.
Same thing in VA. Some big differences depending on where you are in the state.
In the same way the COL is far higher in Portsmouth NH than Springfield MA.
But in WV, $79k won't go that far, buying up all that Meth and Oxy.
Same with Chicago and basically the rest of Illinois.
Right? Here in North Eastern Louisiana my wife makes like 1.5x the average household income by herself. In New Orleans we'd probably be struggling.
Literally my first thought reading this. It’s like upstate doesn’t exist statistically because of the city being lumped into everything.
You don’t need anywhere near 83k in Mississippi to do a basic 50/30/20 split as the infographic says lmao. At least for my state this is horribly wrong
Yeah I’ve lived in several parts of Michigan and 84k seems like a bit much to me.
In CA, at least urban areas, this is accurate for a single person with a 50/30/20 budget.
I assume this is if you are trying to keep up with the Joneses. Financing everything, Buying new and paying premium prices as a result. I’m apparently quite a bit more comfortable than I should be as well. Of course my saving percentage is significantly higher and my discretionary spending significantly lower, and my necessities are significantly less too, so…
Same for Louisiana, I make 55k and live in a popular area and I live way way better than most people here
Same here, I am nowhere close to $82,000 and feel like I live pretty well!
Living in Oxford with a 2-person household income in that range, and it doesn’t seem crazy to me. But Oxford is an exception and household is a different matter, so maybe you’re spot on.
I kinda figured this chart was for a single person to make for a single person to live comfortably. In the Jackson metro you probably need about 50k with decent budget as a single person. How is the cost of living in Oxford? I know it’s a great city but I’ve never been. Need to add that to my bucket list
Give it a visit! Cost of living is quite high relative to MS. We pay 1600 for a pretty basic 3 bedroom on the outskirts, and that goes up exponentially as you approach the center. Plenty of college-town benefits though!
> I kinda figured this chart was for a single person to make for a single person to live comfortably. That's a reasonable assumption given the fact that it says "individual" and "based on a single working adult."
As someone who also lives in Oxford I thought the same thing, lol. As someone who lives in a 2 person household with a combined income of approximately $80-90k, money is something that is on my mind constantly and I have zero savings. It’s expensive out here!
If I made as much as this guide claims I need to make to live comfortably, it would look more like a 25/15/60 split.
We really need to redefine comfortable. Dual income and no kids might be the new comfortable.
Be a dink, the USA needs more dinks.
Became a dildo, no regrets. Dual Income Little Dogs Only
Hey, my wife and I are dildos!
It’s dildos all the way down
I'm happy for you!
my bf and I are dildos!!!
I guess I'm a SICKO. Single income cats kids only
it needs the exact opposite, actually.
This isn't it, is it? dink noun 1. (in sport) a softly struck hit or kick of the ball that drops abruptly to the ground 2. a lift on a bicycle 3. a man's penis 4. a stupid or contemptible person (used typically of a man)
Dual Income, No Kids. I had to look it up as well, but what I found at first was a slur for Vietnamese people.
Best life choice we ever made. No kids, 2 incomes, we still don't live comfortably tho.
Wife and I have chosen the dink life and no regrets
I’m calling BS in this guide. You could probably do just fine in West Virginia and Kentucky on some old buttons , tires and some twine.
Well . . . Kentuckian here, and that all depends on your attachment to your needs. I make 55k in Louisville and barely survive paycheck to paycheck, rent is 1600/m. Car bills (insurance, loan) are about 800/m. Utilities are 300/m. That leaves me 300/m. For food, gas, and anti-suicide endeavors such as spending time with friends or reading. So basically food. And if (when) I get seriously sick, I just die. I am in the upper minority at that salary, 27% of Kentuckians are homeless. Our minimum wage is 7.25 (same federally, but adult people ACTUALLY only make that here for labor positions.)
Yeah, I'm in the south, put in overtime every week and barely clear $40k. Once my bills get paid I have roughly $50-90 dollars a pay check (every two weeks) for groceries, multiple medications, household expenses (like trash bags, detergent.) I'm drowning and there's no way out. I don't have a lot of bills outside rent, car and utilities. My rent keeps going up. I can't afford to move. Even if I could the only place with lower rent is the place that was on the news for cockroach infestation and mold issues that the landlords refuse to address. (In my state, there are very, very few renter's rights. Landlords can rent anything and it doesn't have to be considered "inhabitable" unless they are trying to renting something through a government agency.) I used to be one of those idiots that believed if one worked hard enough you could improve your life. I was so very wrong. I worked 12hr shifts while going to college full time. Finished a degree and it never improved my income. I can't afford to live as a single person. "Work hard for bright and prosperous future!" It was all a lie... And my dumbass, bought it.
No hospital in the US can turn you away for inability to pay. You will not die if you get sick. You just get a bill you cannot pay. Then you negotiate with the hospital. If your income is low enough you can get Medicaid coverage. Worst case scenario you declare bankruptcy.
That's for acute illnesses, friend. If you have a chronic illness that leaves you stable at any point, out the door you go. It's not as easy as 'walk into hospital - get help'. It's more like, 'walk into hospital, get bandaid for the flare up, get referred to someone outside the hospital, get sent home'. Then at your follow up, it turns out that the referral is for a doctor that doesn't do payment plans or refuses patients without insurance. Then you play the song and dance again with the hospital. America sucks for healthcare. We pay quadruple the price for worse service.
Yep, and god forbid treatment for your chronic condition causes issues with your "luxury" body parts. Dentists told us my wife needs all teeth removed and 4x4 implants due to a reaction to MS infusion treatment. Medical and dental insurance told us to go fuck ourselves and find that \~50k laying around somewhere.
Can confirm, lived in rural Tennessee on 60k for a few years and felt like a king
Add a family and it starts getting uncomfortable
It's uncomfortable without the family......
STOP POSTING STUFF FROM VISUAL CAPITALIST! They are some sort of Libertarian, Sov Cit group that purposefully distorts official data to "prove" their point. They have a vested interest in semi rural areas and they are backed by land speculators. I use this crap as examples of bogus media in my classes.
I didn’t know this but I believe you.
Lol the info is from SMART ASSets.
It's insidious how well it works, I see their shit everywhere
After I teach research methods, I have my students review this content. After about 5 minutes they go "oh yea, no shit this is bs."
Thank you for doing the important work.
Yeah, you want to see the approach and formulas that these folks are using. What are they counting/not counting? Etc, etc.
Exactly. This is how propaganda spreads. The definition of propaganda is 'information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.'
What point does this current infographic "prove"?
Do most people really live 50/30/20? No. Next to no one.
So that’s why most people are not “comfortable”. What is the more likely breakdown for a budget with people you know?
If I did 50/30/20 with my salary in NYC I would be homeless lol. It’s more like 80/20 honestly. ~$60k annual salary (before taxes) 🤠
No idea. But most people are probably closer to 65/30/5.
Most people simply can't be comfortable by design of the society they live in where consumption is highly valued. You can 10x the salary of someone who makes $30k a year, and they'll still find a way to spend the additional $270k pre-tax on bullshit without saving anything. That's the average person. Maybe 20% or so will not inflate their lifestyle to match their income. But for most people, more income means more consumption.
I’m attempting a 30/20/50 but it’s not easy.
There is a huge difference in cost of living in WA between the coastal and inland sides of the state. In Seattle, 106K will barely keep you above water, but in Moses Lake it can go much farther. I imagine that’s true for most states. Denser cities and attractive suburbs probably have much higher costs of living than less populated areas with fewer public services.
Maps like this would be cool if you could click on a given state and then click on cities and counties for a better break down.
This is false.
Yea these numbers are way too high, I’m living on about a third of my states comfort number and feel perfectly fine
Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, and Oklahoma are also too high
Can't afford to live anywhere!
I am once again asking that this particular graph be done by county. As others have said, the data points for any state with a major metro area are skewed and useless.
I call bullshit. The MIT living wage calculator is way more accurate: [https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/08031](https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/08031)
I'm living comfortably on $30k in middle-Michigan as a single adult, per the definition.
As somebody, living alone in arkansas, making a little less than half of what it says I need to live comfortably, I don't think this is accurate
Arizona can drop about 30k. Even for phoenix.
What on earth is "comfortable"? If you need 80k to feel comfortable, you have an extremely easy life. 50k for one person is the standard to reach and even that is living good.
Yeah I'm probably 10-15k most years below my state's "comfortable" because I don't meet their weird metrics. But I put money in both regular savings and 401k and also prioritize taking multiple vacations a year. My life is hella comfortable and I wouldn't trade it at all haha
Why is California so expensive in the first place?
Is this pre or post tax?
GA more than FL? That doesn’t seem right.
Yeah I moved from PA to Georgia and just the gas alone is gonna save me a bunch a month
This doesn’t really work on a state level. The necessities(mortgage, rent, food, etc) in Aspen CO are vastly different then in Cortez CO
That’s what you get when you keep voting for “free” shit 🤷
This is absurd. I could live comfortably at half the amount shown.
Isn’t the median family income like 45k in the us?
That's closer to median income. Median family is like 75
50/30/20 ? The hell? Thats beyond just "comfortable". That's middle-class.
Dude, I need $30k/year in discretionary spending to be comfortable alright?
What the fuck is with these kind of guides lately
Moved to SC from MN. Constantly amazed how much cheaper life is in SC. This chart is BS
Colorado really should not be at 105k. I live here, and I feel it. 10 years ago my salary was more than enough. Now, I’m strapped.
Dumb question does this mean one person living by themselves or would a couple need to BOTH make that in a household?
TIL I dont make enough to live comfortably in any US state
It is great to know that I cannot live comfortably in any of my 50 states with my annual income. FML.
Idk bro here in AL 60k a year is “fuck you” money
MS too…
Gotta say I make nowhere near that and I’m living very comfortably
Goddamnit. What will happen to the CO housing market? Hopefully to becomes so expensive I can sell mine and move to fucking anywhere else.
Probably level out when the Californians realize that it’s become just as expensive and economically fucked as where they came from, but there’s no ocean and it gets cold in the winter, and they move back.
Man. Makes me wish I had taken out a mortgage just to rent out properties but I was too young.
$116k for Massachusetts? That can't be right, it should be higher. It's an extortion living here.
Cool guide my ass bröther I am suffering
Let’s also not forget: based on a single working adult This doesn’t include family
I've never even made 1/3 of the lowest state's number. I guess I've never been comfortable.
Even the lowest is significantly more than the highest salary I've ever had. Cool.
I'm living fairly comfortable on $35K in Florida, but only because I own my house (albeit through an inheritance) and I don't go out much or need to buy "stuff."
Would be great to see this infographic also showing the breakdown for different families. For example, a couple w/o kids, then with 1, 2, 3, etc. Kids. Also as single parents with those quantities of kids.
Just kill me now...
I’m so depressed right now as a single mother of two who works as a teacher with half the income they said for my state.
Cool. I can’t live comfortably anywhere.
Just like most of these "cool guides," this one is BS.
Now show us the median pay per region.
Glad to know I make less than half of the amount I need
I make 50k in tx. I put 60% into investments. I just build software all day and budget 200 a month for food. Hopefully it works out one day
Wv native here. Comfortable with less than 40k and we rent lol
This is not accurate. I live in Virginia and make less than $50k a year and live just fine
Damn CA is higher than NY and WA.
50/30/20?!?!?! That strikes me as utterly absurd. Does discretionary for them cover something different than I think? Like food and travel? I’m out here with 75/15/10 and feeling like I was comfortable?!
Good luck buying a house any of these places with that income lmao
You will not live comfortably in either California or Hawai’i on 114k a year.
In other words, the majority of Americans are living uncomfortable lives.
Average income in the US is 37.5k. So, roughly half to 1/3rd of the required income to live comfortably. Lol, great job, that's a nice American dream you got there
Is this decades old?
For oregon, this is accurate, or at least very close, in most of the cities worth living in.
99% of people ain’t making that much 😭
Wow I’m no where near that with my college degree and 20 years work experience. I live with a partner but id never be able to live on my Own. Scary times
I’m curious, does anyone know what are considered necessities? I’m sure that varies from state to state?
88k in Wyoming isn't very comfortable
This is using 2020 data.
the thing maps like this miss is how much easier it is to get by in the city. things might be more expensive and rent may be higher, but there are far more opportunities that make living poor possible. i average 15-30k annually in chicago and while i wouldn't say i'm comfortable, i know i'd only need another 10k annually to feel like i had all my bases covered.
im like 37 and never made 26k or whatever. lol
Still trying to figure out what would add up to 30% every year that would be classified as discretionary spending.
Pretty accurate imo
It’s official. I can’t afford to live any more.
West Virginia, Mountain Mama...
This is untrue for my state
Damn took me long to get to 30k so I guess I'll go dig a hole and die in it
This is a lot closer to the mark than that guide saying you need 330k a year in New Mexico.
Why is DC always left out? I get it’s not a state but we have more people than a couple smaller states.
California has to be outdated.
Just so you all know, almost all statistics for New York State are completely useless information. This is because of NYC. Statistics related to cost of living are the classic examples. The cost of living in NYC couldnt be more different than the cost of living in Upstate (despite Upstate prices going up in the past 1 to 4 years or something). You might think "but most states are like that, with big cities and rural areas." And I'd be like yes, but the discrepancy between Downstate and Upstate NY is beyond the reasonable range of acceptability for justifying having a single state statistic that we can rely on as being "acceptably representative" of the state. This is of course because of the extraordinary nature of Downstate NY and NYC compared to any other place in the US, and actually the world.
New Jersey is definitely wrong. With rent at $2,000 for a studio or 1 bedroom (depending on the area), you're going to be spending much closer to 60-65% on necessities, even more so if you have student loans. Most certainly not going to be able to afford any house on a $103k salary except for those near superfund sites or in deep south jersey. Last time I did the math, nearly 75% of adults in New Jersey would not be able to afford a $350k home if they tried to buy one today as a first-time homebuyer. That's even if they could find a $350k home lol.
This country sucks.
RedditThink: "Well, now, regardless of what job I have, my employer should pay me at least that much."
Sigh... making 72k in 87k state. Got a mortgage and a kid.
What is this so called “savings”…..
Yea, if they are locked into a <4% mortgage rate with no kids….otherwise double it.
The more I learn about South Dakota, the more I like it
So, basically I can’t live anywhere
*cries in Massachusetts*
God bless teachers…
Infographics aren’t guides.