The Cost of Living Comfortably in America’s 50 Largest Cities

Homeowners in 10 of the nation’s largest cities need to earn at least $191,000 annually to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle. While nine of these cities are based on the West Coast and the Hawaii-Pacific Islands — not unusual given each region’s high cost of living — Americans might not be able to guess which East Coast city requires making more than $217,000 to live comfortably.

To determine the income needed to live comfortably in America’s 50 largest cities, GOBankingRates identified the 100 largest U.S. cities by their total population, households and household median income. We kept the top 50 cities for this article with comfortable incomes calculated for homeowners and renters in each city. The average mortgage was calculated using the average home value, assuming a 10% down payment and using the most recent national average 30-year fixed mortgage rate. For renters, the total cost of living was calculated using the average rental cost and average expenditure cost. Using the 50/30/20 finance rule, the total cost of living was doubled to determine the income needed to live comfortably for a homeowner and renter. 

• Irvine, California, ranked first place for the highest comfortable income for homeowners ($326,645) and renters ($130,943) in the nation. The Southern California city’s median household income is $129,647, which needs to be more than double the amount for homeowners to live comfortably.
• Nine of the top 10 cities with the highest comfortable incomes for homeowners are based on the West Coast and the Hawaii-Pacific Islands with one on the East Coast. Irvine aside, these remaining nine include Fremont, California (#2), San Jose, California (#3), San Francisco (#4), Honolulu (#5), San Diego (#6), Arlington, Virginia (#7), Los Angeles (#8), Anaheim, California (#9) and Seattle, Washington (#10).
• California swept the top 50, with 15 cities where homeowners and renters need to earn six figures for a comfortable lifestyle. These cities include Irvine (#1), Fremont (#2), San Jose (#3), San Francisco (#4), San Diego (#6), Los Angeles (#8), Anaheim (#9), Long Beach (#12), Chula Vista (#14), Santa Ana (#15), Santa Clarita (#17), Oakland (#18), Riverside (#22), Sacramento (#31) and Stockton (#38).
• None of the top 50 cities had a median household income higher than the comfortable income needed for homeowners. However, 10 cities have median household incomes that are higher than the comfortable incomes needed for renters. They include Fremont (#2), San Jose (#3), Arlington (#7), Scottsdale, Arizona (#13), Gilbert, Arizona (#24), Portland, Oregon (#25), Austin, Texas (#28), Chandler, Arizona (#29), Plano, Texas (#32) and Anchorage, Alaska (#34).

In order of highest comfortable income needed for a homeowner, here’s what it costs to live comfortably in America’s 50 largest cities.

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $326,645
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $130,943
• Household median income: $129,647
• Monthly mortgage cost: $11,461
• Monthly rent cost: $3,306

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $304,047
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $129,981
• Household median income: $176,350
• Monthly mortgage cost: $10,290
• Monthly rent cost: $3,038

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $294,384
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $137,427
• Household median income: $141,565
• Monthly mortgage cost: $9,790
• Monthly rent cost: $3,250

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $269,118
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $145,399
• Household median income: $141,446
• Monthly mortgage cost: $8,638
• Monthly rent cost: $3,483

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $245,515
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $128,131
• Household median income: $85,428
• Monthly mortgage cost: $7,527
• Monthly rent cost: $2,636

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $221,177
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $127,425
• Household median income: $104,321
• Monthly mortgage cost: $7,003
• Monthly rent cost: $3,096

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $217,567
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $118,896
• Household median income: $140,160
• Monthly mortgage cost: $6,777
• Monthly rent cost: $2,665

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $207,481
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $125,385
• Household median income: $80,366
• Monthly mortgage cost: $6,264
• Monthly rent cost: $2,844

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $191,853
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $117,897
• Household median income: $90,583
• Monthly mortgage cost: $5,826
• Monthly rent cost: $2,744

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $191,588
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $105,801
• Household median income: $121,984
• Monthly mortgage cost: $5,819
• Monthly rent cost: $2,244

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $190,584
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $159,715
• Household median income: $79,713
• Monthly mortgage cost: $4,996
• Monthly rent cost: $3,710

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $189,107
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $112,417
• Household median income: $83,969 
• Monthly mortgage cost: $5,554
• Monthly rent cost: $2,359

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $186,055
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $103,750
• Household median income: $107,372
• Monthly mortgage cost: $5,662
• Monthly rent cost: $2,233

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $183,107
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $129,258
• Household median income: $105,173
• Monthly mortgage cost: $5,383
• Monthly rent cost: $3,139

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $182,499
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $120,046
• Household median income: $88,354
• Monthly mortgage cost: $5,466
• Monthly rent cost: $2,864

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $181,360
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $135,522
• Household median income: $94,755
• Monthly mortgage cost: $5,210
• Monthly rent cost: $3,300

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $176,330
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $120,771
• Household median income: $119,926
• Monthly mortgage cost: $5,144
• Monthly rent cost: $2,829

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $176,119
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $116,308
• Household median income: $97,369
• Monthly mortgage cost: $4,987
• Monthly rent cost: $2,495

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $168,419
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $118,491
• Household median income: $106,287
• Monthly mortgage cost: $4,632
• Monthly rent cost: $2,552

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $154,028
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $136,112
• Household median income: $94,813
• Monthly mortgage cost: $3,982
• Monthly rent cost: $3,236

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $151,340
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $130,580
• Household median income: $59,390
• Monthly mortgage cost: $3,976
• Monthly rent cost: $3,111

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $149,396
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $113,746
• Household median income: $88,575
• Monthly mortgage cost: $3,955
• Monthly rent cost: $2,469

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $137,113
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $96,448
• Household median income: $91,681
• Monthly mortgage cost: $3,615
• Monthly rent cost: $1,920

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $134,227
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $102,174
• Household median income: $121,351 
• Monthly mortgage cost: $3,483
• Monthly rent cost: $2,147

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $132,502
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $93,730
• Household median income: $88,792
• Monthly mortgage cost: $3,379
• Monthly rent cost: $1,763

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $130,771
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $94,008
• Household median income: $78,448
• Monthly mortgage cost: $3,459
• Monthly rent cost: $1,927

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $130,307
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $111,497
• Household median income: $48,416
• Monthly mortgage cost: $2,999
• Monthly rent cost: $2,215

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $128,812
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $88,894
• Household median income: $91,461
• Monthly mortgage cost: $3,341
• Monthly rent cost: $1,678

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $127,764
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $97,589
• Household median income: $103,691
• Monthly mortgage cost: $3,244
• Monthly rent cost: $1,986

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $125,550
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $96,462
• Household median income: $88,654
• Monthly mortgage cost: $3,066
• Monthly rent cost: $1,854

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $124,467
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $105,215
• Household median income: $83,753
• Monthly mortgage cost: $2,958
• Monthly rent cost: $2,156

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $124,171
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $90,167
• Household median income: $108,649
• Monthly mortgage cost: $3,168
• Monthly rent cost: $1,751

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $123,694
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $94,530
• Household median income: $84,320
• Monthly mortgage cost: $3,031
• Monthly rent cost: $1,816

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $119,409
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $95,527
• Household median income: $98,152
• Monthly mortgage cost: $2,592
• Monthly rent cost: $1,597

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $118,378
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $95,488
• Household median income: $70,723
• Monthly mortgage cost: $2,735
• Monthly rent cost: $1,781

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $117,543
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $88,743
• Household median income: $81,308
• Monthly mortgage cost: $3,009
• Monthly rent cost: $1,809

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $117,501
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $97,646
• Household median income: $81,938
• Monthly mortgage cost: $2,720
• Monthly rent cost: $1,893

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $117,041
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $102,180
• Household median income: $76,851
• Monthly mortgage cost: $2,677
• Monthly rent cost: $2,057

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $114,841
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $93,989
• Household median income: $75,197
• Monthly mortgage cost: $2,730
• Monthly rent cost: $1,862

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $114,719
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $89,150
• Household median income: $78,779
• Monthly mortgage cost: $2,704
• Monthly rent cost: $1,639

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $113,262
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $89,703
• Household median income: $83,198
• Monthly mortgage cost: $2,794
• Monthly rent cost: $1,812

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $113,051
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $84,995
• Household median income: $76,983
• Monthly mortgage cost: $2,727
• Monthly rent cost: $1,558

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $112,487
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $98,106
• Household median income: $76,772
• Monthly mortgage cost: $2,485
• Monthly rent cost: $1,886

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $111,817
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $87,242
• Household median income: $82,424
• Monthly mortgage cost: $2,692
• Monthly rent cost: $1,668

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $110,665
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $89,925
• Household median income: $77,041
• Monthly mortgage cost: $2,559
• Monthly rent cost: $1,695

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $110,636
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $96,478
• Household median income: $90,685
• Monthly mortgage cost: $2,517
• Monthly rent cost: $1,927

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $110,620
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $97,285
• Household median income: $94,189
• Monthly mortgage cost: $2,514
• Monthly rent cost: $1,959

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $109,396
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $98,885
• Household median income: $69,268
• Monthly mortgage cost: $2,420
• Monthly rent cost: $1,982

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $108,285
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $87,573
• Household median income: $70,139
• Monthly mortgage cost: $2,504
• Monthly rent cost: $1,641

• Comfortable income needed for homeowners: $107,297
• Comfortable income needed for renters: $104,234
• Household median income: $71,302
• Monthly mortgage cost: $2,340
• Monthly rent cost: $2,213

Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates analyzed the largest 100 US cities to find the income needed to live comfortably in each location. First, the largest 100 cities were identified along with their total population, total households, and household median income all sourced from the US Census American Community Survey. The cost of living indexes were sourced from Sperling’s BestPlaces and include the grocery, healthcare, housing, utilities, transportation and miscellaneous cost of living indexes. Using the cost of living indexes and the national average expenditure costs, as sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey, the average expenditure cost for each location can be calculated. The livability index was sourced from AreaVibes for each location and included as supplemental information. The average single family home value was sourced from Zillow Home Value Index for April 2025. Using the average single family home value, assuming a 10% down payment, and using the most recent (5/22/25) national average 30-year fixed mortgage rate, as sourced from the Federal Reserve Economic Data, the average mortgage can be calculated. Using the average mortgage and average expenditure costs, the average total monthly and annual cost of living for a homeowner can be calculated. The average rental cost was sourced from Zillow Observed Rental Index for April 2025 and using the average rent cost as well as the average expenditure cost, the total cost of living for a renter can be calculated. Using the 50/30/20 finance rule that says that needs should not exceed 50% of total household income so taking the total cost of living and doubling it will give the income needed to live comfortably for a homeowner and renter. The cities were sorted to show the highest comfortable income needed for a homeowner. All data was collected on and is up to date as of May 28th, 2025.