The 7 U.S. cities where a $250,000 salary is worth the least — New York is No. 1
Only 7% of American households make $250k or more. However, for those with high incomes, some cities will provide them with the best value for their money, while others will provide them with much less.
The real purchasing power of a $250,000 salary is influenced by the cost of living, taxes, and the general state of the local economy. Over all of America, $250,000 is equivalent to $203,664 in Memphis, Tennessee, but only $83,000 in New York City.
This is supported by a recent SmartAsset report that looked into the areas where high earners suffer the greatest tax and cost of living losses. The study contrasts the after-tax income in 76 of the biggest U. S. cities and makes the necessary adjustments for the cost of living.
The data was gathered by using the paycheck calculator on SmartAsset, which determines take-home pay after local, state, and federal taxes are deducted. Housing, food, utilities, transportation, and other goods and services are all included in the cost of living.
The seven cities where your money has the least purchasing power are listed below, along with an estimate of what it is actually worth for the select few wealthy people making $250,000 annually.
$82,421 in New York.
$82,672 in Honolulu.
$82,776 is the amount for San Francisco.
102,635 in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles, California: $101,635.
Washington, D.C. : $101,865.
$55,151 in San Diego.
Unsurprisingly, $250,000 doesn’t go very far in places like New York and Washington, D.C. because of the high cost of living. According to information from RentHop, the typical monthly rent for a studio apartment in New York is $3,500.
At the D.C in Washington.
, the average rent for a studio apartment is also high, coming in at just over $2,300 per month, per information from RentHop. The capital city was the third-most expensive major U.S. city in the previous year.
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city based on monthly household expenditures. No. 1 was New York. 5.
Due in large part to the high income tax in the state, several cities in California also make the list of places where $250,000 has the least purchasing power. According to SmartAsset, residents of San Francisco, for instance, pay about six percentage points more in taxes at a $250,000 salary than they do at a $100,000 salary.
The study also found that San Francisco’s cost of living is 82.8 percent higher than the national average. Similar to Long Beach, California, where the cost of living is 52.5 percent higher than the national average, professionals there pay 38 percent in taxes.
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