PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A new analysis has found how much it takes to be able to afford to live in some U.S. cities, and the Portland metro area made it into the top 10 for the highest needed salary.
Using the MIT Living Wage Calculator, SmartAsset calculated the required annual income after taxes estimated to determine how much you would need to make to “live comfortably.”
The company used a common budgeting technique – the 50/30/20 rule – to allocate the after tax-income to three categories: basic living expenses, discretionary spending, and saving or paying off debt.
SmartAsset used MIT’s estimated living wage salaries as the “needs,” or 50% of one’s budget. They then doubled that salary for their analysis, allowing for an individual to spend the rest on wants, saving, and paying off debt, according to NewsNation.
In the Portland, Vancouver and Hillsboro areas, a person would need to make post-tax annual salary of $59,992. This would be a bi-weekly check of $2,307.
Furthermore, 50% of someone’s needs in the Portland metro area would be just short of $30,000, while $17,998 would go towards wants and $11,998 would go towards savings or paying off debt throughout the year.
But how does Portland stack up compared to the rest of the U.S.?
According to the analysis by SmartAsset, the San Francisco Bay Area is ranked at the top spot for the highest salary needed to live comfortably, followed by the Boston metro at No. 2 and Seattle metro at No. 3. New York-Newark-Jersey City are in fourth, followed by Washington-Arlington-Alexandria at fifth. No. 6 and 7 are San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad and Los Angeles, respectively.
Finally, it’s Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro coming in at No. 8.