Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Yes, another list. Smartasset has compiled a list of 99 US cities and the salaries required to live comfortably in those cities (Not paycheck to paycheck). They use what's called the 50-30-20 rule where 50% of income goes to necessities (housing, food, etc), 30% to wants and 20% to savings. The NC cities were ranked as follows:
No real shockers personally, but it shows how NC is steadily becoming more and more expensive as its desirability increases. For reference $96,500 was the national average.
Have lots of family and travel across the state - the advice was to move to the Triad if moving to NC. But it's the Triangle that just keeps pulling people in and I know people who move there even if it wasn't for the job.
Yes, another list. Smartasset has compiled a list of 99 US cities and the salaries required to live comfortably in those cities (Not paycheck to paycheck). They use what's called the 50-30-20 rule where 50% of income goes to necessities (housing, food, etc), 30% to wants and 20% to savings. The NC cities were ranked as follows:
No real shockers personally, but it shows how NC is steadily becoming more and more expensive as its desirability increases. For reference $96,500 was the national average.
Why do you only care about cities?
In today's world a lot of people do NOT live in the city and commute instead.
Are these household incomes or individual because I suspect that they are household incomes
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quick Enough
Why do you only care about cities?
In today's world a lot of people do NOT live in the city and commute instead.
It's a lot cheaper in many cases.
It's only cheaper if the person is planning on owning two vehicles. Between mass transit and ride sharing a person in the heart of the City can go carless and cars aren't cheap....
In today's world a lot of people do NOT live in the city and commute instead.
It's a lot cheaper in many cases.
I didn't make the list. The original list was the top 99 cities in America by population. These were the only NC cities large enough to make the list.
Your point is valid, but I don't think it moves the needle too much in terms of metros. For example, it will still most likely cost less to live in a neighboring town of Winston than a neighboring town of Raleigh, etc.
The $64,000 question is: How do they define "comfortably".
See the note in the OP about 50-30-20 rule. Its an estimate on how much you'd need to earn to spend no more than 30 percent of your income on necessities like housing, food, etc, 30 percent on "wants" (entertainment, etc), and 20 percent on savings. They look at housing costs, general cost of living metrics and state how much it would cost to meet this criteria WITHOUT having to live paycheck to paycheck. Its not exact science but you get the point.
Also, these are single person numbers. They did another household comparison for a family of two adults and two children. I would post the link but I'm unsure of the sites policy on linking to other sites but its easily googleable.
I didn't make the list. The original list was the top 99 cities in America by population. These were the only NC cities large enough to make the list.
Your point is valid, but I don't think it moves the needle too much in terms of metros. For example, it will still most likely cost less to live in a neighboring town of Winston than a neighboring town of Raleigh, etc.
See the note in the OP about 50-30-20 rule. Its an estimate on how much you'd need to earn to spend no more than 30 percent of your income on necessities like housing, food, etc, 30 percent on "wants" (entertainment, etc), and 20 percent on savings. They look at housing costs, general cost of living metrics and state how much it would cost to meet this criteria WITHOUT having to live paycheck to paycheck. Its not exact science but you get the point.
Also, these are single person numbers. They did another household comparison for a family of two adults and two children. I would post the link but I'm unsure of the sites policy on linking to other sites but its easily googleable.
Just because someone posts a link to something, that doesn't mean they have a responsibility to explain and justify the information. Nor are they obligated provide background information on the entity producing the information. That's the reader's job, if they are so inclined.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.