Income a family of four need to live comfortably by state in the U.S.

[Hillbilly Deluxe]

I wonder what this looked like in 2019?

You know, just 5 short years ago....

 

[burbguy82]

I wonder what this looked like in 2019?

You know, just 5 short years ago....

I know who not to ask

 

[goingplacesanddoingstuff]

Except your not allowed to build a cabin. Most jurisdictions have a size requirement on single family. 1200 square feet / 2 bath minimum is common requirement - fallout from the tiny home movement.

Around here there tearing down the 1950's 3/1 and putting up 3 stories, that look basically like a row house - small footprint to fit the small lot, 2000 square feet.

View attachment 219139

Exactly. Zoning is a part of the problem. Another part of the problem is the decline of older neighborhoods which contain smaller houses. Many of them aren’t safe.

Laying all the blame on expectations when one literally cannot find or build houses under certain square footages seems to be more about wanting to think positive thoughts about older generations and negative thoughts about younger generations.

It’s more complex than that.

 

[SuperSalad]

I never realized how destitute I was. Less than half the "comfortable" earnings and five of us to boot.

Who comes up with this nonsense?

 

[Sumboodie]

I thought that too when I was young...but having kids and being a Dad is fun and it gets better when you become a Grandpa..

I think that till spending more than a few hours with my brother's kids. A dog is way better

 

[hrv]

I think that till spending more than a few hours with my brother's kids. A dog is way better

Well they have 2 dogs and 2 cats too...

 

[goingplacesanddoingstuff]

Actually, it is relevant. All of it.

The technology advances are just that - advances in the standard of living. We didn’t have air conditioning in my house growing up, in Connecticut. Now, it is standard. That is an increase in the standard of living, and my central point is that the expectation for a house is much higher.

The median house is bigger and is better equipped. So is the median car, but let’s focus on the house, for now.

Median home has increased in size by about 30% since I bought my first one in 1992. So, yep, bit higher percentage of income, but only a bit because interest rates are lower than they were in 1992, for a much larger house.

Further, since families are smaller, the number of square feet per person has increased by an even greater percentage.

https://money.cnn.com/2014/06/04/real_estate/american-home-size/index.html

Forgot to mention, that article is about average size, not median.

 

[Sumboodie]

If that were a reliable chart 90% of the people in my state would be bankrupt. There are lots of people that couldn't come up with $20,000 if they had to.

Well over 50% of the US couldn't come up with $500.

 

[John105]

I wonder what this looked like in 2019?

You know, just 5 short years ago....

PA weighed in at $36,000…..

Again common sense….Winnetka IL, Weston MA, Greenwich CT. These are 3 communities where the median household income is solidly 200’s and maybe closer to 300 by now. They are more than comfortable…why does everyone else need to be that comfortable….

 

[Sumboodie]

50/30/20 is from??

I'm more like 30/10/60

 

[GON]

I never realized how destitute I was. Less than half the "comfortable" earnings and five of us to boot.

Who comes up with this nonsense?

I knew a concrete contractor (now deceased). He started with not a penny and died with a net worth of over 60 million USD. Until the day he died, he read the grocery sales paper, and would spend his day buying whatever groceries were on sale at whatever part of town. His home was never updated, and when he passed his home required gutting to be sold. He drove an older Mercedes, and it was beat up and not maintained.

This wealthy man was very financially comfortable but did not live comfortably according to some standards/measurements.

 

[alarmguy]

The OP chart is off the wall and generated for clicks. (not at all directed at the OP)

This is more realistic
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/06/how-much-money-a-family-of-4-needs-to-get-by-in-every-us-state.html

and with taxpayer assistance you can cut these numbers way lower.

 

[goingplacesanddoingstuff]

I knew a concrete contractor (now deceased). He started with not a penny and died with a net worth of over 60 million USD. Until the day he died, he read the grocery sales paper, and would spend his day buying whatever groceries were on sale at whatever part of town. His home was never updated, and when he passed his home required gutting to be sold. He drove an older Mercedes, and it was beat up and not maintained.

This wealthy man was very financially comfortable but did not live comfortably according to some standards/measurements.

Dying with $60 million while still living in squalor is profoundly stupid.

 

[John105]

The OP chart is off the wall and generated for clicks. (not at all directed at the OP)

This is more realistic
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/06/how-much-money-a-family-of-4-needs-to-get-by-in-every-us-state.html

and with taxpayer assistance you can cut these numbers way lower.

This list passes muster using common sense. Also the wording is to “get by.” But they appear to be realistic.

 

[Pablo]

Dying with $60 million while still living in squalor is profoundly stupid.

The real question, what did he really die from?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The OP chart is off the wall and generated for clicks. (not at all directed at the OP)

This is more realistic
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/06/how-much-money-a-family-of-4-needs-to-get-by-in-every-us-state.html

and with taxpayer assistance you can cut these numbers way lower.

Washington: $105,080

Seems about right. I keep telling the IRS we bring in less, they keep rejecting my 1040!

 

[John105]

I knew a concrete contractor (now deceased). He started with not a penny and died with a net worth of over 60 million USD. Until the day he died, he read the grocery sales paper, and would spend his day buying whatever groceries were on sale at whatever part of town. His home was never updated, and when he passed his home required gutting to be sold. He drove an older Mercedes, and it was beat up and not maintained.

This wealthy man was very financially comfortable but did not live comfortably according to some standards/measurements.

I liked the stories about Vanguard and Jack Bogle eating lunch in the co cafeteria. My wife worked there and said hello a few times. Her coworkers didn’t even know who he was, to illustrate how modest he was. I don’t know why I never joined the Bogleheads forum. I mean I waited 20 years to join Bitog

 

[jeepman3071]

"Comfortably" has a wide range of definitions. For some, it means having a little extra spending money, and not being so afraid of surprise bills. For others, it means a week long tropical vacation each month, 2 leased Mercedes, and a live-in nanny.

 

[GON]

The OP chart is off the wall and generated for clicks. (not at all directed at the OP)

This is more realistic
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/06/how-much-money-a-family-of-4-needs-to-get-by-in-every-us-state.html

Lots of very different measurements. Are private schools currently a minimum requirement for the vast majority of American families if one expected their children to receive a productive education? I have heard, in much of America public schools are no longer focused on the basic four that most of us received at public schools (Math, Science, History, and English).

Getting by and living comfortably are not necessarily equal.

We all use ourselves as an example compared to the chart. I am not sure that is applicable. I drive salvage cars, move myself,- typically cross country with over 15 thousand pounds in tools and hardware items alone every 18 +/- months, I could go on and on. So, I expect I am in the "get by" crowd, not the living comfortable crowd. I suspect I have enough income to buy new cars, pay movers, etc.- by I chose not to. That doesn't mean the living comfortably chart is erroneous- it just may not make sense if one only used their life experience as the sole measuring stick. I know plenty of people that fix nothing ever in their house, install nothing, etc. Every issue involves a phone call to a contractor/installer/ repair service.

 

[Astro14]

Forgot to mention, that article is about average size, not median.

That’s statistical nitpicking.

No matter how you characterize it, houses have increased in size by roughly 30% since 1992.

So, the cry, “I will never have what my parents did” is disproved by the simple fact that they already have more than their parents did.

You cannot hand wave away. The fact is that houses are larger, have more luxuries, more standard appliances, and nicer finishes and they did 30 years ago.

You can’t simply say “the standard has improved” without acknowledging the fact that the improved standard is representative of a higher standard of living.

Everybody complains about about the cost of living, without recognizing that it is significantly better than it was 30 years ago.

The average cost of a car has not increased that much compared with inflation. But the average car 30 years ago had nothing compared with what you see on today’s cars. The average car in 1992 did not have airbags, antilock brakes, side impact protection, Bluetooth, satellite radio, navigation systems, LED lighting, and the incredible efficiency that comes from better fuel systems, more sophisticated transmissions and hybrid powertrains.

So, while the cost is the same, what you get is a great deal more. That’s an increase in the standard of living.

So, when people say “to live comfortably“, they’re defining comfortably as being the top 10%.

But average people now love as well as the top ten percent did 30+ years ago. Everything that goes along with your increased standard and technology, whether it’s air-conditioning, connectivity, entertainment systems, or the amount of square footage per person, all of that stuff, has gotten dramatically better over the last 30 years.

The average person in this country now lives very well compared with how they lived 30 years ago and very well compared with the rest of the world.

 

[GON]

The average person in this country now lives very well compared with how they lived 30 years ago and very well compared with the rest of the world.

That is a critical datapoint. Is the increase in quality of life by certain measurements for many Americans due to increased efficiencies and production, or deficit spending? One can live really well if using credit as income, until...........