(As originally published with bells and whistles, Mon, March 20th 2023, 2:19 PM EDT)
WASHINGTON (TND) — It’s safe to say most Americans’ paychecks have not kept up with inflation, regardless of where they live.
Everyone is spending more of their incomes and saving less, and it’s hard to complain compared to tech workers who are being laid off.
The financial service companies PYMNTS and LendingClub found 64% of American consumers were living paycheck to paycheck in December.
That’s up from 61% in December 2021.
The same study found more than half of Americans making six-figure incomes — 51% — were living paycheck to paycheck in December.
That’s up from 42% the year before, so 2022 was not a good year financially for the highest earners.
Of course, Americans pretty much choose how to spend their money after a place to live and food to eat, as long as there’s money left over.
SmartAsset spent December conducting a survey on how far a $100,000 annual salary goes in dozens of America’s largest cities.
The financial technology company looked at two important factors: taxes and cost of living. First, it subtracted taxes and then it adjusted for the cost of living.
It found a $100,000 salary in Memphis did the best. In Memphis, $100,000 meant $74,515 after taxes since Tennessee doesn’t tax wages and adjusting for a low cost of living meant the year’s pay was worth $86,444.
1. Memphis, Tenn: worth $86,444 after taxes and cost-of-living adjustment
2. El Paso, Texas: worth $84,966 after taxes and cost-of-living adjustment
3. Oklahoma City: worth $84,498 after taxes and cost-of-living adjustment
4. Corpus Christi, Texas: worth $ 83,443 after taxes and cost-of-living adjustment
5. Lubbock, Texas: worth $83,350 after taxes and cost-of-living adjustment
6. Houston: worth $81,350 after taxes and cost-of-living adjustment
7. (tie) San Antonio, Fort Worth, and Arlington, Texas: worth $80,124 after taxes and cost-of-living adjustment
10. St. Louis: worth $79,921 after taxes and cost-of-living adjustment
Notice that seven of those cities are in Texas. The state does not have a personal income tax and the cost of living is relatively low.
Here are the places where a $100,000 annual salary was worth the least. Note that $100,000 is not even worth half that amount in any of these places.
67. Seattle: worth $48,959 after taxes and cost-of-living adjustment
68. Boston: worth $46,588 after taxes and cost-of-living adjustment
69. Oakland, Calif: worth $46,198 after taxes and cost-of-living adjustment
70. San Diego: worth $46,167 after taxes and cost-of-living adjustment
71. (tie) Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif: worth $44,623 after taxes and cost-of-living adjustment
73. Washington, D.C.: worth $44,307 after taxes and cost-of-living adjustment
74. San Francisco: worth $36,445 after taxes and cost-of-living adjustment
75. Honolulu: worth $36,026 after taxes and cost-of-living adjustment
76. New York worth $35,791 after taxes and cost-of-living adjustment
Click the arrow near the top to see pages 2-8, and all 76 cities.
Hover over each of the 25 cities to see where they fall.
