The Salary You Need To Live Comfortably in the 15 Best Places in America

Recently, U.S. News & World Report compiled a list of the best places to live in the United States, pinpointing the various lovely havens throughout America that are conducive to settling down and enjoying life. That said, paradise isn’t always cheap, especially in an era of increased cost of living due to inflation and tariffs. So, just how much does it cost to live in the 15 best places in America?

Taking the cities from the U.S. News & World Report list, GOBankingRates cross-referenced each locale with Zillow, the Tax Foundation, Freddie Mac and the Bureau of Labor Statistics in order to gauge the approximate rent levels, mortgage rates, grocery and healthcare costs for every “Best City.” With that information in hand, GOBankingRates then calculated the salary needed to live as a renter and a homeowner in each city, as well as the annual cost of living for renters and homeowners.

See whether you have what it takes to afford living in one of America’s 15 “best places.”

• Salary needed for a renter to live comfortably: $116,801
  • Annual cost of living for renters: $58,401
• Salary needed for a homeowner to live comfortably: $144,211
  • Annual cost of living for homeowners: $72,106

• Salary needed for a renter to live comfortably: $86,003
  • Annual cost of living for renters: $43,002
• Salary needed for a homeowner to live comfortably: $112,577
  • Annual cost of living for homeowners: $56,288

• Salary needed for a renter to live comfortably: $85,681
  • Annual cost of living for renters: $42,841
• Salary needed for a homeowner to live comfortably: $104,410
  • Annual cost of living for homeowners: $52,205

• Salary needed for a renter to live comfortably: $80,683
  • Annual cost of living for renters: $40,342
• Salary needed for a homeowner to live comfortably: $84,220
  • Annual cost of living for homeowners: $42,110

• Salary needed for a renter to live comfortably: $87,945
  • Annual cost of living for renters: $43,972
• Salary needed for a homeowner to live comfortably: $101,023
  • Annual cost of living for homeowners: $50,511

• Salary needed for a renter to live comfortably: $84,467
  • Annual cost of living for renters: $42,233
• Salary needed for a homeowner to live comfortably: $105,658
  • Annual cost of living for homeowners: $52,829

• Salary needed for a renter to live comfortably: $78,791
  • Annual cost of living for renters: $39,396
• Salary needed for a homeowner to live comfortably: $81,974
  • Annual cost of living for homeowners: $40,987

• Salary needed for a renter to live comfortably: $92,364
  • Annual cost of living for renters: $46,182
• Salary needed for a homeowner to live comfortably: $104,585
  • Annual cost of living for homeowners: $52,292

• Salary needed for a renter to live comfortably: $87,219
  • Annual cost of living for renters: $43,609
• Salary needed for a homeowner to live comfortably: $131,969
  • Annual cost of living for homeowners: $65,985

• Salary needed for a renter to live comfortably: $106,398
  • Annual cost of living for renters: $53,199
• Salary needed for a homeowner to live comfortably: $198,093
  • Annual cost of living for homeowners: $99,047

• Salary needed for a renter to live comfortably: $104,858
  • Annual cost of living for renters: $52,429
• Salary needed for a homeowner to live comfortably: $110,964
  • Annual cost of living for homeowners: $55,482

• Salary needed for a renter to live comfortably: $66,045
  • Annual cost of living for renters: $33,022
• Salary needed for a homeowner to live comfortably: $80,901
  • Annual cost of living for homeowners: $40,451

• Salary needed for a renter to live comfortably: $99,748
  • Annual cost of living for renters: $49,874
• Salary needed for a homeowner to live comfortably: $124,442
  • Annual cost of living for homeowners: $62,221

• Salary needed for a renter to live comfortably: $83,490
  • Annual cost of living for renters: $31,745
• Salary needed for a homeowner to live comfortably: $110,795
  • Annual cost of living for homeowners: $55,397

• Salary needed for a renter to live comfortably: $78,069
  • Annual cost of living for renters: $39,035
• Salary needed for a homeowner to live comfortably: $87,557
  • Annual cost of living for homeowners: $43,778

Methodology: In order to find the salary needed to live comfortably in the best places in the United States, GOBankingRates sourced the best places to live from the U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Places to Live in the U.S. in 2024-2025.” GOBankingRates then found (1) annual rent from Zillow’s February 2025 data; (2) February 2025 home value from Zillow; (3) annual mortgage assuming a 30-year fixed mortgage at 6.67% interest with 20% down and not including PMI or HOA fees (from Freddie Mac); (4) annual property taxes from Tax Foundation; (5) annual grocery costs from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2023 consumer expenditure for “food at home” and extrapolating it out by each city’s grocery cost of living from Sperling’s Best Places; (6) annual healthcare costs from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2023 consumer expenditure for “healthcare” and extrapolating it out by each city’s healthcare cost of living from Sperling’s Best Places; (7) annual utilities costs from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2023 consumer expenditure and extrapolating it out by each city’s utilities cost of living from Sperling’s Best Places; and (8) annual transportation costs found by taking the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2023 consumer expenditure for “Gasoline and other fuels PLUS other vehicle expenses” and extrapolating it out by each city’s transportation cost of living from Sperling’s Best Places. For homeowners, factors (2) through (8) were combined to give each city a (9) annual cost of necessities for homeowners and then, following the 50/30/20 rule, where no more than 50% of income should go toward necessities, GOBankingRates was able to find (10) minimum salary for homeowners to live comfortably. For renters, factors (1), (5), (6), (7) and (8) were combined to give (11) annual cost of necessities for renters and then, following the 50/30/20 rule, GOBankingRates was able to find (12) minimum salary for renters to live comfortably. All data was collected on and is up to date as of March 24, 2025.