So even the upper middle class isn’t comfortable according to this. Seems like a deeply flawed assessment.
I think what you might be able to get out of this kind of information is general comparisons of costs of living between the different states. For example, living in Hawaii, New York and California is generally more expensive than living in Oklahoma or Alabama.
The info is a year old, so today even higher income is needed. In San Jose, the cost of living is significantly higher. A recent SmartAsset study found that a family of four needs approximately $371,571 annually to live comfortably in San Jose. This estimate is based on the 50/30/20 budgeting rule, allocating 50% of income to necessities, 30% to discretionary spending, and 20% to savings. Gallup.com+5 While the national average suggests that $85,000 is needed for a family of four to get by, this figure can be significantly higher in areas like San Jose. Families in such regions often require multiple six-figure incomes to maintain a comfortable lifestyle, highlighting the importance of considering local cost-of-living factors when evaluating financial needs.
The problem that I think Steve is referring to is the fact that “living comfortably” can’t really be defined as a general term. It’s very sensitive to different life styles between different families. The chart has more relevance I believe, if used to simply compare one state to another. Although even then the range in living expense is huge between things like living in downtown San Francisco versus living in the rural areas of the California Central Valley.
