The Good Life
Here's how much money you need to live comfortably in Austin
How much money do you need to live the good life in Austin? We turned to GoBankingRates, which recently calculated the annual income needed to live comfortably in the 75 most populous U.S. cities, to find out.
For its calculations, the financial website assumed residents follow the "50-30-20" guideline: 50 percent of your income goes towards necessary expenses, 30 percent can be used for fun, and 20 percent is put into savings.
A cost-of-living analysis, surveying living expenses (rent, groceries, utilities, transportation, and healthcare), was conducted for each city. That total was doubled to determine how much money a single person needs to earn if following the aforementioned budget.
In Austin, the magic number to live comfortably is $53,225. In this scenario, $26,612 is required to pay yearly living expenses, leaving $15,967 for fun money and $10,645 for savings. By GoBankingRate's calculations, Austinites are in good shape. The website says the median household income in Austin is $55,216, $1,991 more than what you need to live comfortably.
Other studies, however, show the average occupational salary in Austin is $49,560, which means workers are a few grand shy of living the dream in the Capital City.