The 16 U.S cities where you can earn $100k and still struggle to pay your bills trends now
Despite a six-figure income seeming like a lot of money, there are a large handful of US cities where even modest monthly expenses are so high that families making $100,000 annually are falling behind on their bills.
A study from Lending Tree analyzed how far $100,000 for a family of three would go in the country's 100 largest metro areas.
In the top 16 least affordable cities for $100K earners, eight of them are in California - including the top three on the list.
The study based its findings on a breakdown of spending categories frequently classified as 'basic' needs, including housing, child care, health care, food, entertainment and utilities, and of course taxes.
Other considerations were transportation, student loans, and savings.
Houses in downtown San Jose, California, the city determined to be least affordable for a family of three making $100,000
After that breakdown, the study found that in San Jose, California - a suburb of California's tech-bubble, Silicon Valley - a family of three earning $8,333 per month, would have a net monthly income of -$1,493.
Exceptionally high housing and transportation costs bring the monthly expense total in San Jose to a whopping $9,496. In April, a Redfin rental data supported the position that the median rent was well south of $3,000.
In San Francisco, the same family would be netting -$1,163, and in Oxnard, the net negative would drop to -$904.
In SF, housing and transportation also rank most expensive, in addition to a bill of more than $1,000 for food.
In Oxnard, the study reports that average rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $2,023.
Also on the list are Honolulu, San Diego, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Seattle, Boston and Denver.
Shockingly, no area of New York City made the list, though Poughkeepsie, New York - a city about an hour upstate of Manhattan - ranked 14th least affordable, where a family of three would have a net-negative income of $156.
New York City was the 17th ranked local where a $100,000 income would stretch the shortest distance. According to the study, after monthly costs, a family of three in NYC would be left with a mere $6.
Honolulu, the capital of Hawaii, was ranked fourth among cities that are least affordable for a family of three making $100,000. Expenses in the tropical paradise would generate a balance of -$865 at the end of the month
Jackson, Mississippi, on the other hand, was determined to be the major US city where a salary o $100,000 for three people would stretch the furthest
The median household income in Mississippi is just below $50,000 - about $20K off from the national average
The study
