What is the Best Cosmopolitan City in the U.S. to Live an affluent lifestyle on an income of $75,000 - $100,000 a year? (salary, America)

[Gtownoe]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

Just out of curiosity (I'm not asking which city is better) which is more affordable for the same budget, Seattle or Chicago?--ie are you there eskercurve?

Good question, I'm not sure.

The cities that came to mine after reading the OP's question were Houston, Chicago, Seattlle, Dallas, and Philly.

[wildcat2009]

What about Boston?

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

Would an income of 75K-100K really get you an "affluent lifestyle" in San Francisco?

The average family in the Bay Area earned $93,327 in 2008 so $100K is ever slightly above average.

Definitely not affluent.

To answer the OP, I'll say Chicagoland for big vibrant city nearby in that income range.

[AcroJimmy2]

Not NYC or San Francisco, thats for sure.

[UrbanLover]

Originally Posted by AcroJimmy2

Not NYC or San Francisco, thats for sure.

Well, if he wanted NYC bad enough then he could easily do a small town about a half hour away from the city or one of the boroughs besides Manhattan.

[jayp1188]

I am going to assume it is just you or you and a spouse since you said you would be looking for a 1 bedroom condo, so with that and your income in mind, I would say Chicago, Miami, Philadelphia, Seattle, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston would probably be your best bets.

You would not be able to have an affluent lifestyle on that income in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, or Washington, DC on that income unless you lived in a fairly distant suburb.

I don't know if you would consider these cities to be cosmopolitan or not, but you could have quite an affluent lifestyle on that income in nice cities like Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Phoenix, Portland, Tampa, Austin, Charlotte, and Denver.

[westcoastbabe]

I would probably say Phoenix, Arizona....I would hope the 'living'would be pretty good considering that Phoenix has an affordable cost of living.

[BPerone201]

Baltimore/Philly

[AZLiam]

Originally Posted by westcoastbabe

I would probably say Phoenix, Arizona....I would hope the 'living'would be pretty good considering that Phoenix has an affordable cost of living.

I agree.

[prelude91]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

Just out of curiosity (I'm not asking which city is better) which is more affordable for the same budget, Seattle or Chicago?--ie are you there eskercurve?

Housing is more expensive in Seattle, but everything else is pretty comparable.