This is How Much Austinites Need to Make to Live Comfortably in 2024
Austin, Texas – The city of Austin is experiencing a surge in the cost of living along with inflation, making it increasingly taxing for Austinites to sustain a comfortable lifestyle. According to a recent analysis by SmartAsset, Austin tops the chart with one the highest salaries required to live comfortably in 2024 among the major US cities.
Crunching the Numbers – The 50/30/20 Rule
The analysis by SmartAsset adopted the 50/30/20 budgeting rule to deduce the amount of money required to live sustainably in Austin. According to this rule, 50 percent of a person’s salary should go towards needs (housing, groceries, transportation), 30 percent towards wants (entertainment and hobbies), and the remaining 20 percent to pay off debts, saving, or investing. Consequently, a single adult living in Austin would need to earn an annual income of $99,757, which breaks down to an hourly wage of $44.12 to avoid living paycheck to paycheck. Additionally, for an Austin-based family of four (two adults and two children), the required combined income to comfortably meet lifestyle costs is $223,891.
Breaking Down Austin’s Cost of Living
Data used in the SmartAsset study was derived from MIT’s Living Wage Calculator. Under the 50/30/20 strategy, with SmartAsset’s stipulated income, an individual Austin adult would need to allocate $49,878.50 of their salary to living expenses, $29,927.10 for discretionary spend, and $19,951.40 towards savings or debt payments. Meanwhile, families of four need to invest $111,945.50 on living costs, allocate $67,167.30 on entertainment and hobbies, and put $44,778.20 into savings or debt retrieval.
With these projections, the required income to live in Austin surpasses the national average by $3,257 for singles. However, Austin families fair better than the national average of $235,000 per annum.
Income Comparison Across Texas
Among all Texas cities, Austin has the highest necessary income for a financially stable life. In contrast, Houston, ranking as the US city with the lowest annual living wage, requires an annual income of $75,088 or a hourly wage of $36.10. For a family of four, the combined income requirement is $175,219.
How Other Texas Cities Stack Up:
- No. 2 – El Paso ($75,254 for single adults, $175,219 for families)
- No. 3 – Lubbock ($75,379 for single adults, $181,043 for families)
- No. 5 – Laredo ($78,458 for single adults, 179,046 for families)
- No. 16 – Corpus Christi ($82,493 for single adults, $192,275 for families)
- No. 25 – San Antonio ($85,072 for single adults, $200,762 for families)
- No. 42 – Dallas, Plano, Irving, Garland ($91,770 for single adults, $208,000 for families)
- No. 57 – Fort Worth, Arlington ($94,765 for single adults, $214,490 for families)
The Nation’s Most Expensive City: New York City
Not surprisingly, New York City tops the list as the city requiring the highest salary to live comfortably. Single adults need to earn an hourly wage of $66.62 or an annual salary of $138,570 to afford a comfortable lifestyle without living paycheck to paycheck. A family of four in the city requires a combined annual income of $318,406.
For more detailed insights into the cost of living across US cities, view the full SmartAsset report here.
