10 Big Cities Where You Need a Salary of More Than $150K To Live Comfortably

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You’ll find most of America’s priciest large cities out West. But could you afford to live — or to live comfortably — in any of these cities?

In at least 10 of America’s biggest cities by population, you’ll need an annual salary of $150,000 or more to live comfortably. In the most expensive, you’d need more like $266,000 a year. GOBankingRates has compiled a list of these cities below.

GOBankingRates defined “living comfortably” as having an annual salary that is double the average annual cost of living. Our list of cities blends data from the U.S. Census American Community Survey, Sperling’s Best Places and the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey. We also included livability scores for each city from AreaVibes, with cities on our list coming in between 67 and 79 on a scale of 100. Populations range from 438,000 to 8.6 million. You can read the full methodology at the end of this story.

With California’s reputation for high living costs, it may not come as a surprise that six of the cities on the list are located in the Golden State. That includes the top four on the list. Seattle, another West Coast city, comes in fifth.

For perspective, there are 10 large U.S. cities (population 396,000 and up) where you can live comfortably for less than $80,000 a year — so it’s not unheard of to have more affordable big-city living.

Here are the top 10 cities where you’ll need $150K or more, in reverse order from least expensive to most expensive.

10. Washington, D.C.

• Population: 670,587
• Livability: 75
• Household median income: $101,722
• Total cost of living (annual): $76,531
• Annual salary needed to live comfortably: $153,061

9. Boston, Massachusetts

• Population: 665,945
• Livability: 77
• Household median income: $89,212
• Total cost of living (annual): $82,497
• Annual salary needed to live comfortably: $164,993

8. Oakland, California

• Population: 437,825
• Livability: 71
• Household median income: $94,389
• Total cost of living (annual): $85,949
• Annual salary needed to live comfortably: $171,898

7. New York, New York

• Population: 8,622,467
• Livability: 75
• Household median income: $76,607
• Total cost of living (annual): $87,955
• Annual salary needed to live comfortably: $175,909

6. Long Beach, California

• Population: 462,293
• Livability: 69
• Household median income: $78,995
• Total cost of living (annual): $88,777
• Annual salary needed to live comfortably: $177,553

5. Seattle, Washington

• Population: 734,603
• Livability: 75
• Household median income: $116,068
• Total cost of living (annual): $89,773
• Annual salary needed to live comfortably: $179,547

4. Los Angeles, California

• Population: 3,881,041
• Livability: 67
• Household median income: $76,244
• Total cost of living (annual): $97,250
• Annual salary needed to live comfortably: $194,500

3. San Diego, California

• Population: 1,383,987
• Livability: 75
• Household median income: $98,657
• Total cost of living (annual): $103,666
• Annual salary needed to live comfortably: $207,332

2. San Francisco, California

• Population: 851,036
• Livability: 75
• Household median income: $136,689
• Total cost of living (annual): $126,439
• Annual salary needed to live comfortably: $252,878

1. San Jose, California

• Population: 1,001,176
• Livability: 79
• Household median income: $136,010
• Total cost of living (annual): $132,963
• Annual salary needed to live comfortably: $265,926

Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates analyzed the 50 largest U.S. cities by population to find the salary needed to afford to live in each. GOBankingRates sourced the top 50 cities by population using the U.S. Census American Community Survey. This survey was also used to source 2022 total population, 2022 total households and 2022 household median income. These include the two most recent years of data released by the US Census. Cost-of-living indexes were sourced from Sperling’s BestPlaces. Using the national average expenditure costs for all residents as sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey, the average expenditure costs were calculated. Using the mortgage and expenditure costs, the cost of living was calculated for each city. Using the 50/30/20 rule that states that needs should not exceed 50% of income, the household income to live comfortably can be calculated for each city. All data is up to date as of Sept. 10, 2024.

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