These are the 10 cities where a $100K salary is considered low

Last month Ladders wrote about how salaries of $100K and below in the super expensive city of San Francisco will put you in the “low income” bracket in some counties around the Bay Area. This was already astonishing news, but wait it gets worse. Magnify Money just came out with their annual The Best and Worst Cities to Live on Six Figures and they found a number of cities will make you spend your $100K salary quite fast and furiously on basic things like rent and food. 

To do this the researchers determined the monthly disposable income of a hypothetical family with one child in 100 metro areas by subtracting monthly expenses, savings, debt, and taxes from an $8,333 monthly paycheck which is equivalent to a $100,000 yearly pre-tax salary.

1. San Jose, California

Monthly after-tax income: $7,087

Estimated monthly expenses and debt: $7,541

Remaining income: -$454

2. Washington, DC

Monthly after-tax income: $6,932

Estimated monthly expenses and debt: $7,292

Remaining income: -$360

3. San Francisco, California

Monthly after-tax income: $7,086

Estimated monthly expenses and debt: $7,246

Remaining income: -$160

 4. Bridgeport, Connecticut

Monthly after-tax income: $7,035

Estimated monthly expenses and debt: $7,133

Remaining income: -$98

5. Minneapolis, Minnesota

Monthly after-tax income: $6,785

Estimated monthly expenses and debt: $6,838

Remaining income: -$53

6. Boston, Massachusetts

Monthly after-tax income: $6,932

Estimated monthly expenses and debt: $6,963

Remaining income: -$31

7. Oxnard, California

Monthly after-tax income: $7,086

Estimated monthly expenses and debt: $6,948

Remaining income: $138

8. Honolulu, Hawaii

Monthly after-tax income: $6,805

Estimated monthly expenses and debt: $6,665

Remaining income: $140

9. Hartford, Connecticut

Monthly after-tax income: $6,934

Estimated monthly expenses and debt: $6,455

Remaining income: $479

10. New York, New York

Monthly after-tax income: $6,934

Estimated monthly expenses and debt: $6,429

Remaining income: $505

Some of these are not surprising like San Francisco and New York but San Jose, which bumped Washington D.C. for the top post, is an interesting one. A family would be most at risk financially in San Jose with a $100,000 salary. According to Magnify Money, they would have to use their savings or go into credit card debt.

Minneapolis is high on the list because of its high-income taxes as well as expensive health insurance rates. The estimated state tax in Minneapolis ($506) is higher than both San Jose and Washington, D.C. Oxnard, CA also made it because of the high housing costs.

Better ask for that raise soon if you plan on living in any of these places.