Who is living comfortably in the US?

[AviatorTom]

The average annual family income in the United States is $63214, with the median being $44225.

According to the map above, who, if anyone, is living comfortably?

Updates

1 y

Is it worth noting that the majority of the states with the highest numbers are Democratic Party BLUE states?

[CrazyGirl2]

Bottom line: The wealthy, and the upper middle class!

I’m living extremely comfortably, but I am one of the rare exceptions! I was worth millions of dollars, the second I was born! My net worth at age 21 is now comfortably in the 8 figure range! However, the overwhelming number of people in this country and in the West as a whole are not doing well at all, and in fact, they are suffering!

My fiancé’s father was telling me “I bust my ass all week, but it’s just not enough anymore! It’s not that I can’t get ahead, I’m used to that. It’s thatI can't even keep my head above water anymore! My food and energy bills have almost doubled in the past 3 ½ years, but I haven't got a rase in 4 years! How is anyone supposed to live like this?” I truly feel for him, and those like him. I personally know people who are in the exact same boat, and in my externship, which is at a private psychology practice, we've had patients who had to stop coming because they could not afford to live if they continued seeing a psychologist every week! Even I’m paying 22% in income tax every year, from the capital gains from the interest my trust fund earns, and 37% income tax for the monthly “stipend” I receive! I can’t even touch the money in it until I’m 25! but I have to pay complex and confiscatory tax on it! Although I truly have NO room to complain about losing so much to income tax, I do both sympathize and emphasize with people who cannot afford to live because of the massive inflation we've seen over the last 4 years!

◕⁠ In 2023, the average rate of inflation was 3.40%.
◕⁠ In 2022, the average rate of inflation was 6.50%.
◕ ⁠In 2021, the average rate of inflation was 7.00%.
◕⁠ In 2020, the average rate of inflation was 1.40%.
◕⁠ In 2019, the average rate of inflation was 2.30%.
◕⁠ In 2018, the average rate of inflation was 1.80%
(Source: https://www.investopedia.com )
For reference, economists say the ideal inflation is 2.0% to 2.4%

So hypothetically, if your grocery bill was just $200 in of 2020, it increased to:
$224 on Jan 1st 2021
$234.80 on Jan 1st 2022
$253.58 on Jan 1st 2023
$263.98 on Jan 1st 2024

And it’s actually $272.70 today, as the inflation so far to this point in the year is 3.3
That is an extra $255.92 extra per month, just for groceries, since 2020!
(Source: https://www.usinflationcalculator.com )
These numbers are based were estimated as an example. However the average family w/2 children in the US actually spends, an average of $331 a week! on food. or a total of $1,324 per/mo
Source: How much does a family with 2 children spend on groceries per WEEK

Gasoline, has increased from an average low of $1.87 gal, in 2020.
To a high of $4.929 in Jul 2022,
To a current average $3.60 gal for reg/unleaded, in the US. That’s more than double the cost of gasoline in 2020.
(Source: US Energy Department )

So, in my opinion NO, most people are NOT living comfortably in the US today. In fact most people are struggling, mightily!

I truly hope this helps answer your question.
Laura. 😞

[AviatorTom]

Laura, thanks for your analysis, but I'm not sure I trust the inflation calculator link.

I did the same calculations in Excel and got these results:

Year Start Inflation End
2020 $200.00 1.40% $202.80
2021 $202.80 7.00% $217.00
2022 $217.00 6.50% $231.10
2023 $231.10 3.40% $238.96
2024 $238.96 3.30% $246.84

I also don't trust the US Energy Department with its gasoline prices. Though the cost of a gallon of regular gas did reach a low of $1.80 for 3 weeks in the middle of 2020, the average cost over the year was $2.10.

[CrazyGirl2]

Hey Tom, I checked only your numbers, against the numbers I provided (I didn't look at the site again) and your numbers are exactly the same as mine? Am I missing something? I mean other than the way we laid them being in the reverse order, but we both have 2020= 1.4, 2021= 7.0, 2022=6.50, 2023= 3.4, and in the grocery section I listed 3.3 in BOLD as the rate of inflation so far this year. Did I miss something, or overlook something, because they really do look the SAME to me, Tom!

I’m really sorry if I DID screw something up, but I don’t think I did. Additionally, I specifically stated that the price for gasoline was the LOW (again in bold), just like the high was not the long-term price, but the highest price documented as an average. (Obviously no national numbers will list only the cheapest gas station in the US Vs. the most expensive. They are national numbers, they average the cost. But again, I’m sincerely sorry if I missed something. I am by no means an economist, but I researched this pretty thoroughly

Laura.

[monorprise]

Your right it is getting harder, we got 11 million more people to feed and house and no freedom to build.

That said Best not to mention you have money if you want to keep it.

[CrazyGirl2]

@monorprise Thank you so much @monorprise, I really appreciate the advice. However I do have a virtual army of attorneys and accountants making sure my finances are VERY well managed and that they remain extremely secured by a fiduciary. Also, I’m not really THAT afraid of giving a vague general statement about my financial situation on a website where nobody knows who I am. I am however concerned that some might consider my stating these facts to be in poor taste, and to be braggadocios on my behalf. It was not. I stated that merely to point out the disparity between the have's and the have not's

As for your assessment that we are not free to build new housing, in 2023, there were 1.420 million nonseasonally adjusted new housing construction starts; seasonally adjusted housing starts totaled 1.568 million. That figure does not include apartment buildings, town houses and condominiums. There were 320,000 new home constructions begun in just the first quarter of 2024. Here in “The Free State of Florida”, as people have colloquially taken to calling it, there is new construction quite literally everywhere! That being said, in the past 10yrs there have been between 2.16 million, and 1.07 million new houses built every year! Do we need more? Yes, I happen to agree that we do, but those numbers only reflect the private homes built, and does not include multi family housing units like apartments, town-homes, and condominiums.

Below is the link to all of the data I used related to new housing permits and actual construction starts over the past 10 years.
ipropertymanagement.com/research/housing-starts

Thank you again for your reply. Take care, and I wish you all the best.
Sincerely, Laura. 🤗 🥰

[monorprise]

@CrazyGirl2
If your numbers are correct and consistent they are still short, and not enough to make up for the even smaller numbers between 2008 and 2016.

by the way A lawyer can't protect you from yourself, and it is you people would try to manipulate. You may think you can think for yourself but you should remember you are young and no one can against soo many.

[CrazyGirl2]

@monorprise Thanks, but again my finances are growing every month at a rate higher than the median household ANNUAL income… every month! And I cannot touch it for another 3+ years, when I’m 25. So I’m okay in that department. but I do thank you for your concern. The only thing my trust will pay for is All school expenses, and living expenses while I’m in school. and one new “Sensible car" every three years. I’m just fine, but again, I do thank you for your concern.

[Anonymous]

The definition of comfortable seems arbitrary at best. My boyfriend and I combined may not make the number for our state but we get by perfectly fine. The definition of "comfortable" says we need almost 50K a year for necessities? We don't spend anywhere near that in a year on everything combined. These numbers seem like total nonsense. Over 4K a month on necessities? I could go on vacation for a week every month of the year and we still likely wouldn't spend 4K in a month, let alone on so-called "necessities". I'm not sure who SmartAsset is but they must be ridiculously out of touch with reality.

[Sasquach]

I suppose you didn't read the study, I had time and was curious, so see below

The study references MIT living wage calculators as a means to deduce bare necessities. The figure shown is basically double the cost of living. Also, the figures over the state is grossly miss leading - major cities were selected to represent the number shown for the state (living outside of the city will have a different number based on the study methodology). Finally, necessities, or 50% as referenced in the budget, represent rent, car loans, food, and taxes, among others.

[Sasquach]

The TLDR - 4k / month is a reasonable figure

[WindAtMyBack]

Comfortable is very subjective.

The places with the highest income also have the highest cost of living. You can live in a dinky apartment in NYC, or a small house on a small lot in California, and pay a fortune doing it. Or you can live in a nice big house, with a half acre lot in the Midwest for a quarter of the cost.

If you want to live in a rat-race and work long hours with a double income, then go ahead. If you want to work a straight 40, then go home and play with the kids and work in the garden, you can do that too. If you want to sit in traffic when the highway is a parking lot, go ahead. If you see what other places call "rush hour" you'd laugh.

I've lived in a lot of places including NY and Cal, and I know what I chose. It wasn't either of those. I had no regrets whatsoever. I'm glad I got the hell out of California, and it's gotten a LOT worse since I lived there. Sure, it has nice mountains and ocean - but it's not worth it.

I'm WAY more comfortable now living in one of the lowest income states than I ever was in California or NY. If a company in California offered me 10X what I could make here, I'd turn it down. It's not worth it. Taken by themselves, those average incomes are almost meaningless.

[OlderAndWiser]

My wife and I are living comfortably but not luxuriously.

[Chazmatazz269]

I’m living comfortably.
States controlled by democrats tend to be union friendly. The surest and easiest way to improve overall compensation and quality of living is to support unions that support their members. It’s also the surest and easiest way to meaningfully improve working conditions and safety on a given job site.
Even nonunion companies tend to compensate more fairly and invest more in safety & health when they compete directly with local unions. They have to or they would lose their most talented employees to outfits that pay better and make sure their safety comes first.

[msc545]

I'm in California. Living here is a little bit confusing in that the area where I live near Los Angeles is exceedingly expensive and so you have to make a lot of money to be able to live here. Conversely, not so far away. Living here is extremely cheap and might be even as cheap as West Virginia. The entire Central valley of California for the most part is very inexpensive living and not very nice. The coastal area where I live is extremely nice. You pay for nice. You also pay for breathable air and coastal views and safe water.

[7Phoenix7]

Yep, all true

[Dinklex3]

I’m pretty comfy as a student with minimum income.

I just pay rent, car, insurance, phone, and groceries. Technically I prob only take home about 30k a year, but I have a bunch of wiggle room. Can still buy clothes, make trips home here and there, & help my sister out if she needs it.

[Fireguy17]

I guess based on those stats I'm very comfortable.
But I have always been very good with money, fairly thrifty but not cheap.
I tend to buy something good and take care of it and it will last a long time, vs buying something cheap and no matter how you take care of it, it will always be a piece of crap.

[Sasquach]

Do you follow the FIRE community?

[Fireguy17]

@Sasquach yes, usually with the tower (truck) behind the engine co.
Once in a while I have to down grade to the engine, the guys don't like it because I make them work and it messes up their manicures.

[exitseven]

It is around 100K to live comfortably in the US. I am living comfortably but if Biden is re elected and prices double again I won't be.

[AviatorTom]

@exitseven Just curious... did you know before seeing this map that you live in the most expensive state?

[exitseven]

@AviatorTom I had a pretty good idea. . I never expected to be making the money I am making now. I always thought I would be rich. I am basically just keeping my head above water.

[AviatorTom]

@exitseven I never thought I'd be rich, but I'm pretty much in the same situation, just in different states.

[jahaims]

The cost of living in states like California don't make the higher average income worth it. The average house cost in California is 800k rn. It wouldn't be possible to afford an 800k mortgage on 115k a year. States with the best income to cost of living would be the "most comfortable "

[Account]

Apart from the fact that everything is getting progressively worse ✨, I know for sure that I would be living in a constant state of discomfort anywhere I would be.
No matter the circumstances.
My mind is my private prison.

[Anonymous]

In reality, you'll be lucky to make $12 per hour anywhere after taxes, which is nowhere near enough to even live on one's own.

All of the good jobs are already taken by those who were blessed by being born in a time where opportunities still existed, but now they're gone forever, and so is the hope of living comfortably

[Astarlessnightsky]

you also need to compare the income with housing costs and other expensese. Also it would be a good idea to not only show the median income but also how high poverty rates are.

[Lynx122]

Why is Alaska expensive like that? Shouldn't it be cheaper if less people want to live there?

[Sasquach]

It doesn't represent all of Alaska. It's just represents Anchorage, Alaska

[Apple1996]

Nah I'm in NY so it's wildly different what comfortable is from city to country. I'm sure it's the same for the other high states

[Dongie]

You know Windsor?

[Iron_Man]

I’m living in the United States, but I’m not comfortable at all because they doubled my property taxes For the second time in a row on my childhood home and now on this one and I don’t have enough cash to pay it

[Sasquach]

Not a long term fix, but maybe consider donating plasma - I did it all the time in college for beer

[Iron_Man]

@Sasquach how is that gonna help pay thousands and thousands of dollars for property taxes?

[Sasquach]

@Iron_Man fine, then be a stripper

[Iron_Man]

@Sasquach 🙄

[Sasquach]

Yeah it might not solve your issue, but it could get you 600/month

[Iron_Man]

@Sasquach how is that gonna help my sugar levels? My energy is already low.

[RetroReviews]

I just recently became physically disabled and lost my ability to make money so no I'm not comfortable at all

[SweetDripp]

I think your numbers are way off. According to the US Census Bureau, the median family income in the US in 2022 was $74,580. Perhaps you are looking at individual income rather than family income.

[AviatorTom]

@SweetDripp I used 2024 numbers that I got online, reportedly from government study. In any case, $74K is still lower than any state on the map.

[Dongie]

I need no map to say the past 2.5 years has brought more stinking trouble than all the years before put together. Not counting one aspect.

[dolemite58]

I make the cut off as a Nevada resident on paper technically, I live in California near the border tho

[Dargil]

You learn to adjust your appetites to your resources and ambition to match.

[paledreams]

@AviatorTom I'm so proud as a foreigner, outside of USA, to see the California and the Democrat heavy states, earning the big dollars 💰💰😞 citizens who voted Democrat are ace in my mind aka they're awesome 🧠😎

[paledreams]

California carrying the whole America on its broad shoulders 😁🫰🏻😁🫰🏻

[DreamLife7]

I'm comfortably and work two days a week. Also, per diem. Meaning as needed here and there other than that my permanent schedule is two days.

[DreamLife7]

*comfort

[Sasquach]

What type of part-time gives you that freedom? No hate, just curious

[DreamLife7]

@Sasquach Registered Nurse through an agency. Each day I work, I choose 16-hour shifts (2 days), totaling 32 hours a week. I get full benefits. 32 hours and up is considered full-time. If I want more money I'm welcomed to pick up anywhere I like not as a regular just for that week or month at a clinic, hospital, long term care, school, camp, urggent care, doctors office, office, home , cvs and so on. My ongoing commitment is just two days. Anything beyond that I DONT have to work on its OPTIONAL

[DreamLife7]

But overall two days is enough for more me

[Jason2469]

I'm very comfy. I moved to a Republican state 10 years ago and bought a dozen bit coin when they were like 3,000 dollars. I only work because if my wife knew how wealthy we were we wouldn't be wealthy for much longer

[GeminiDiamond]

I'm comfy when I'm in the states.

[ProbablyClueless]

I'm living quite comfortably.

[handsomelad70]

Wealthy folk in any state.

[NathanDavis]

Texas

[midnightmoon05]

We are doing well。

[paledreams]

Californians are doing the legwork 🫰🏻🫰🏻🫰🏻😀

[Agape93]

I am

[Bklynbadboy12]

I'm very comfortable