Here's How much money it takes to live comfortably in the 50 biggest US cities

Business Insider ^ | 04/19/2016 | Elyssa Kirkham, GOBankingRates

[SeekAndFind]

Unless you're tracking expenses carefully, it can be hard to tell whether your city's cost of living or your own spending habits are the cause of your financial troubles.

Using the 50-30-20 budgeting rule, for example — in which 50 percent of income covers necessities, 30 percent is for discretionary items and 20 percent is saved — you can quickly determine whether your income is sufficient to cover expenses for living in your city. If it isn't, you might have to cut costs or maybe even move.

GoBankingRates conducted a cost-of-living comparison of the 75 most populous U.S. cities, surveying dollar amounts of living expenses including rent, groceries, utilities, transportation and healthcare. This total, which accounts for necessities, was then doubled to find how much money a single person needs to earn in that city to follow a 50-30-20 budget. This study also compares the total amount of income needed to the actual median household income in each city to see if differences in cost of living are matched by differences in pay.

(Visit GoBankingRates for the complete list and methodology.)

Click through to see how much money you'd need to earn to live comfortably, before taxes, in the biggest cities across the U.S. The cities are listed in order of population from smallest to largest.

Bakersfield, CA: $43,425

Income needed: $43,425

50 percent for necessities: $21,713

30 percent for discretionary spending: $13,028

20 percent for savings: $8,685

Based on the median household income of $56,842, Bakersfield, residents have an extra $13,416 more each year than what is needed to live comfortably.

___________________________

Arlington, TX: $46,904

Income needed: $46,904

50 percent for necessities: $23,452

30 percent for discretionary spending: $14,071

20 percent for savings: $9,381

Arlington has a local median income of $53,055, which is $6,151 more than the income

[grania]

The article lists Cleveland as $42,000 to live comfortably. That seems higher than necessary. The author is factoring in that households should be saving 20% of income. Who does that?

[TexasGunLover]

The author is factoring in that households should be saving 20% of income. Who does that?

I think most working folk do. We book over 13% against 401k and then the rest to 20% goes into cash.

[nascarnation]

That’s a very good strategy.
I used similar in my working career and it has left me in a good place.

[Tenacious 1]

We’d be comfy now if I hadn’t lost two jobs and had to spend savings and debt to keep the family afloat for a time in the past 7 years. We are in recovery mode. It’s a long road.

[txrefugee]

Many of these are Gibsmedats transplanted in Houston after they sat on their butts waiting for someone to rescue them and their children after the levies broke (due to Democrat negligence) post- Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

They still have that mentality, but they will find that most Texas politicians are not as magnanimous as Rick Perry was when he invited this bunch of dependents into Houston. That was really stupid, because they never left. The only bright spot was that some Texas schools got several great football players out of that deal, always a plus in Texas!

[mulligan]

This is pure fiction.

[Grams A]

Noticed Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee was right there up front today with the new Houston Mayor. In spite of the non-stop TV coverage have not heard anyone raising any questions about why so few had any Go Bags ready with some basic supplies. Somebody needs to remind these folks and the press that the Good Lord helps those that help themselves.

One Christmas gift I got for every driver in our family to keep in their car was a tool that allows a window to be broken from the inside to allow egress in an emergency. Just no reason for anyone to drown like several have when an inexpensive simple solution is available.

Houston just does not have the financial resources this time around to help all these people. The press has been clamoring for a solution to the flooding issues. As long as they continue building something on every blade of grass just to increase tax revenue and considering that the city is not much above sea level this is going to continue happening.

[Grams A]

Have had lots of family discussions about moving out west permanently - we’ll see.

[roadcat]

Yeah, I’m thinking “Savings” here is really a euphemism for “Starbucks, lottery tickets, those really cute shoews, the occasional joint, or whatever else trips our trigger at the moment”.

Yes, human nature. I have friends that let money slip through their fingers. They then lament that they're barely getting by, and that I'm lucky I'm debt free. Luck? Me and my wife planned to be debt free, by not spending beyond our means and putting money aside. Those friends that are barely getting by, visit Starbucks multiple times each day, get on Facebook constantly to comment on the snacks they found in stores and restaurants, besides having season tickets for the Giants or Sharks etc. One made it a point to get a new car every few years, and flew first class everywhere - he had the nerve to ask me for a loan to get by, while he was wasting his money - he ended up in bankruptcy and blames "the economy" but not himself.

I'm not saying all poor people are poor because of bad decisions in life, but people shouldn't spend rich if they aren't rich! Whatever you make, live within your means (and somewhat below your means).