How Much Does it Cost to Live Comfortably in Texas?
With wages in the country regularly falling short of the definition of a "living wage", just how much do you and your family need to be bringing in to live comfortably in Texas?
What does it mean to "live comfortably"? As reported by Yahoo, GOBankingRates used the 50/20/30 ratio to determine the costs of living comfortably in 50 major US cities (CLICK HERE for their full study). By this ratio, 50% of your wages should go to necessities like food, rent, and clothing, 20% goes to savings, and 30% goes to splurging and fun. Going by this ratio, GOBankingRates used the median income of the city and compared it to housing and renting prices to come up with how much a home owner or renter would have to make to live comfortably using the 50/20/30 rule. And as you might have guessed, nowhere in a major Texas city does the median income provide a comfortable living:
CITY | MEDIAN INCOME | INCOME NEEDED FOR HOMEOWNER | INCOME NEEDED FOR RENTER |
Arlington | $55,562.00 | $80,650.00 | $89,050.00 |
Austin | $63,717.00 | $98,007.00 | $94,455.00 |
Dallas | $47,285.00 | $83,140.00 | $87,964.00 |
El Paso | $44,431.00 | $64,593.00 | $68,961.00 |
Fort Worth | $57,309.00 | $79,287.00 | $87,135.00 |
Houston | $49,399.00 | $79,378.00 | $87,658.00 |
San Antonio | $49,711.00 | $71,943.00 | $77,871.00 |
Do you think the 50/20/30 rule is even viable in today's economy?