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Idk what the current situation is for OP, but here is my situation
Single 23 male no kids (Mother and little brother live with me)
34,500 salary before taxes (1200/bi-weekly take home after taxes)
Location Chesnee SC (work in Greenville, SC)
House:650 a month 3 bed 1 bath house built in 1947 on a lot of land)
Expenses
Rent 650
Lights 120 (less in spring and fall)
Water 80 every two months
Car 300 Month (paid off by end of month)
Car Insurance 170 a month (switching to liability after this month will be 90 a month)
Cell phone 50 a month (could take it down to 35 if I wanted (i have a nice mid range phone through boost mobile)
Hospital bill 50 a month (once car is paid off this is next)
Gas (20 dollars to fill up tank) Gas in SC is dirt cheap, right now its (1.85/gal)
I find that i have money left over to buy what I want within reason, my mother pays for groceries and the internet bill(no cable), she also gives me money to help with other expenses. She is like a roommate in a lot of ways.
I know for a fact that we could live on less we just would have to cut down on needless expenses and find a cheaper place to live. (the duplex i moved from 2 bed 2 bath was only 550 a month, It was in a nice neighborhood and close to the highway for work)
Idk what the current situation is for OP, but here is my situation
Single 23 male no kids (Mother and little brother live with me)
34,500 salary before taxes (1200/bi-weekly take home after taxes)
Location Chesnee SC (work in Greenville, SC)
House:650 a month 3 bed 1 bath house built in 1947 on a lot of land)
Expenses
Rent 650
Lights 120 (less in spring and fall)
Water 80 every two months
Car 300 Month (paid off by end of month)
Car Insurance 170 a month (switching to liability after this month will be 90 a month)
Cell phone 50 a month (could take it down to 35 if I wanted (i have a nice mid range phone through boost mobile)
Hospital bill 50 a month (once car is paid off this is next)
Gas (20 dollars to fill up tank) Gas in SC is dirt cheap, right now its (1.85/gal)
I find that i have money left over to buy what I want within reason, my mother pays for groceries and the internet bill(no cable), she also gives me money to help with other expenses. She is like a roommate in a lot of ways.
I know for a fact that we could live on less we just would have to cut down on needless expenses and find a cheaper place to live. (the duplex i moved from 2 bed 2 bath was only 550 a month, It was in a nice neighborhood and close to the highway for work)
I want to move to South Carolina!
I rent a 1 bedroom apartment for $620 a month and want a 3 bedroom house with a backyard for my dog but can't find one for less than $1200 a month in my area.
I make $50k a year and my take home is $1450 biweekly after taxes, 401k, and health insurance benefits.
My monthly budget is
$620 rent
$124 car insurance (also 23 years old. Can't wait for this to go down)
$350 car payment (owe 1 more year)
$120 utilities (lights + water)
$110 cable + Internet (trying to get rid of the cable, but can't until this 24 month commitment is over)
$60 cell phone bill (I can get this down to $45)
$200 food
$60 Gas ($2.29 a gallon here in West Virginia and fill up twice a month at $30)
No credit card and student loan debt.
My basic bills and exspenses run $1644-1700 a month.
I have $1000-1200 left over and I save about $600 a month. The rest is play/fun money.
If I get rid of the cable, pay off my car, and cut my cell phone bill that would free up an extra $500 a month.
I could live off $30000 a year if I cut those things from my budget. You can live like a king in your part of South Carolina on $50k a year.
I say in the southeast $35-37k is middle class for a single person and I could easily live off that salary and not have to make any sacrifices besides get rid of cable.
I would say that a salary in the $36,000-$40,000 per year range (remember the original question was asked in 2011 and inflation since then must be factored in) is above poor, but probably lower class.
There are 2 other factors to consider.
1. Location: $38,000 a year goes further in Des Moines, Iowa than New York City.
2. Household size. Let's say that there is a household of a 27 year old male and a 25 year old female. The 28 year old male makes $38,000 per year and the 26 year old female makes $36,000. That's a household income of $74,000 per year, which is pretty decent, especially if this household has no kids and limited school debt. In a reasonable cost-of-living region with no kids and limited debt, that $74k per year household income will go far, even though neither member of the couple is an earnings powerhouse.
Where I am the median household income (according to C-D) was just over $113,000 in 2013. The mean price of a single family home was about $540,000. I don't know how much the typical 1 bedroom apt is, but I'd guess it's around $1,600/month.
$37,000 a year would be tough, but then again the OP doesn't live here.
As many posters note, $36,000+ goes farther in some places than others. Just because it covers basics in some Low COL areas doesn't necessarily make it a middle class wage though.
It seems to me that a true middle class income would allow you to live in most areas of the country, and $36k simply isn't adequate in most metro areas. Since $36+ works in some places, I guess we could call it the lower limit of middle class.
As many posters note, $36,000+ goes farther in some places than others. Just because it covers basics in some Low COL areas doesn't necessarily make it a middle class wage though.
It seems to me that a true middle class income would allow you to live in most areas of the country, and $36k simply isn't adequate in most metro areas. Since $36+ works in some places, I guess we could call it the lower limit of middle class.
True, and a lot of costs are fairly static. Other than taxation and the cost of housing, most other things do not scale linearly (or worse) with the increase in income in higher COL areas.
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