SmartAsset examined what a $100,000 annual income is really worth - in terms of buying power - in major US cities.
To see how much $100,000 is actually worth in different parts of the country, SmartAsset compared the after-tax income in 76 of the largest U.S. cities and then adjusted those figures for the cost of living in each place. For more information on our data or how we compiled our findings, read the Data and Methodology section below.
Key Findings
- $100K goes furthest in Memphis. The city may be known as the “Home of the Blues,” but Memphis’ low cost of living surely won’t make you sing them. A $100,000 salary is worth more here ($86,444) than in any other city in our study after subtracting taxes and adjusting for the cost of living.
- Texas cities dominate the top 10. Thanks to no state income tax and the low cost of living, the Lone Star State looms large in our study. Seven out of the 10 cities in our top 10 are located in Texas. After deducting taxes and adjusting for the cost of living, a $100,000 salary on average is worth $77,885 across the 10 Texas cities that we analyzed in our study.
- Oklahoma City has the lowest cost of living. A $100,000 goes a long way in the Sooner State’s largest city, considering that the cost of living is only 83.2% of the national average – the lowest out of all 76 cities in our study. A $100,000 salary is worth $84,498 in Oklahoma City after adjusting for the cost of living.
- In New York City, $100K amounts to just $35,791 when you consider taxes and the cost of living. Taxes and cost of living take a big bite out of a $100,000 income in the Big Apple, which ranked last in our analysis. After adjusting for those factors, $100,000 is worth just $35,791.
There's more at the link.
The top 10 cities (in terms of affordability) were:
1. Memphis, TN
2. El Paso, TX
3. Oklahoma City, OK
4. Corpus Christi, TX
5. Lubbock, TX
6. Houston, TX
7. TIE: San Antonio, Fort Worth and Arlington (all in TX)
10. St. Louis, MO
The bottom 10 (i.e. least affordable on a $100K salary) were:
67. Seattle, WA
68. Boston, MA
69. Oakland, CA
70. San Diego, CA
71. TIE: Los Angeles and Long Beach (both in CA)
73. Washington, D.C.
74. San Francisco, CA
75. Honolulu, HI
76. New York, NY
For what it's worth, 7 out of 10 of the top cities are in Texas. 5 out of 10 of the worst are in California. Explains why so many people are moving eastward from the former to the latter . . .
Peter
The steady drip drip drip of inflation wear away the currency slowly and surely. I saw a video where a men was showing the beach front condo he had rented in Thailand, quite a nice place. The price was something over one ans a half million baht/month, which came out to $280 US, This is where our dollar is going, you'll get every dime you have coming and it won't buy anything.
ReplyDeleteI moved from D.C. to Memphis in the Eighties taking a big salary cut but found I had more take home pay living in Shelby County. Instead of having four roommates I could get an apartment by myself.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago, I considered a job in DC compared to my current job outside Pittsburgh.
ReplyDeleteEvery penny of the $20,000 a year pay increase, and more, would have been eaten up by the higher cost of living.
Those cities with the "most affordable" rating also have some of the worst crime rates in the country.
ReplyDeleteI'll stick to unaffordable rural fly over country.
I'm surprised San Antonio made the top 10. When I lived there three years ago, the property tax was nearly the same as my mortgage. It was a battle every year to keep the county tax office from bumping up the stated value in order to increase the tax.
ReplyDeleteMemphis may be the cheapest place, but I don't think you could pay me enough to live there these days.
ReplyDeleteYes, at least 3 of the most affordable are real crapholes- El Paso, Memphis & St Louis... not sure about Houston, but it is a city, and all cities are becoming dangerous.
DeleteI'm glad I live in a smaller town in North Carolina that has almost zero crime.
Yeah, best to avoid the cities altogether.
ReplyDelete#9 is missing...
ReplyDeleteI wonder which political party controls those 19 different cities?
I'm more than a little surprised that Wichita Falls was not on the top 10... Moved here from Champaign, IL which was FAR better than the Chicago area, but finding things a lot more affordable here than even Champaign. But maybe that's just me being "cheap"...
ReplyDelete@Rob: #9 is there - it's a three-way tie for #7.
ReplyDeletePeter-
ReplyDeleteSo it is, I missed that.. thanks.
Hey Peter;
ReplyDeleteAs long as the people leaving those states don't bring their voting pattern and "well this is how we did it in Cali" attitude with them....
@ don't mind me, you say the most affordable are horrible crime areas.
ReplyDeletewhat about the least affordable?
David Lang
This isn't new.
ReplyDeleteMaybe three decades ago, Texas was paying for billboards in Silicon Valley pointing out that engineering jobs in Dallas and Austin paid 85% of what jobs in Silicon Valley did - but the cost of living was only 63% of that in the SF Bay Area.
If not for family reasons (and already owning a house) I'd have looked into it. Some of my friends certainly did - and moved. There are times I regret that I didn't, even if Austin wouldn't be my first choice if I wanted to live in Texas.
If anything, the cost of living differential is far higher today. Even after paying capital gains on my ridiculously overpriced San Jose home, I'd have a considerable amount left after buying something comparable there.
Too bad those family reasons are even stronger today. Because I'd *really* like to get out of California for good and all.
I cannot stress it enough, your reasons for staying are illusions your mind has painted to avoid dealing with the uncomfortable reality.
Delete^^^this^^^
DeleteHouston used to be nice 40 years ago. Now, a blue crap hole run by and for criminals.Everyone is moving out and ruining the smaller towns.
ReplyDeleteHere in EastTN its brutal. Californians everywhere. Its to the point they are unwelcome! I was an escapee from NY 8 years ago, I know why they left, and I got an earful when I got here, to make sure I didn't bring NY down with me.
ReplyDeleteYou, ahhhh, can have Memphis though, I ahhh, hear its GREAT! Definitely move there instead of this end of the state, yup.
Interesting that no MS cities appear on that list considering that MS regularly ranks in the top 5 (and typically number 1) as having the lowest cost of living. Maybe that most "cities" in MS don't count as cities elsewhere.
ReplyDelete