Only 7% of American households have an annual income of $250,000 or more. For those high earners, however, certain cities offer the best bang for their buck — while others offer far less.
The actual purchasing power of a $250,000 salary depends on a city’s overall economy, taxes, and cost of living. In the US, $250,000 can be worth as much as $203,664 in Memphis, Tennessee, and as low as $83,000 in New York City.
That’s according to a recent report from SmartAsset, which examines Where high earners lose the most in taxes and cost of livingThe study compared after-tax incomes in 76 of the largest U.S. cities and adjusted the figures for cost of living.
data is used SmartAsset’s Salary Calculator, which calculates take-home pay after accounting for local, state, and federal taxes. Living expenses include housing, groceries, utilities, transportation, and other goods and services.
For the privileged few earning $250,000 a year, here are the seven cities where your money has the least buying power, and what that money is actually worth.
- New York: $82,421
- honolulu: $82,672
- San Francisco: $82,776
- Angel: USD 101,635
- long beach california: USD 101,635
- Washington DC: USD 101,865
- san diego: $105,151
Unsurprisingly, $250,000 was least spent in cities like New York and Washington, D.C., due to the high cost of living. In New York, the average monthly rent for a studio apartment is $3,500, According to data from RentHop.
In Washington, D.C., the average monthly rent for a studio apartment is also high at just over $2,300, According to data from RentHopLast year, the nation’s capital was ranked as the third most expensive city to live in the United States, based on monthly household spending. New York ranks fifth.
Several cities in California also cut the lowest $250,000 purchasing power, largely due to the state’s high income taxes. In San Francisco, for example, a resident earning $250,000 pays about 6 percentage points more in taxes than a SmartAsset reported salary of $100,000.
Best of all, according to the study, the cost of living in San Francisco is 82.8 percent higher than the national average. Likewise, Long Beach, California has a professional tax rate of 38% and a cost of living that is 52.5% higher than the national average.
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