Cost of living comfortably in San Antonio jumped 43% from last year

Single SA residents now need an annual salary of $85,072 to live abiding by the 50-30-20 rule. That personal-finance guideline recommends people spend half their income on needs such as housing and groceries while 30% goes to entertainment and hobbies and the remaining 20% covers debt, savings and investments.

In 2023, San Antonio residents needed just $59,270 to get by comfortably using the 50-30-20 rule, according to SmartAsset’s previous report.

The personal finance blog used MIT’s Living Wage Calculator to determine the amount of money needed to live comfortably in the nation’s 100 largest cities. It defined “living comfortably” as not being forced to live paycheck to paycheck.

Despite the steep jump in costs, San Antonio is still less pricy than most major U.S. cities, but not by much, according to the study. The average salary needed for a comfortable life in the Alamo City is also less than the national average of $96,500 a year.

Another large Texas city, Houston, took the top spot as the nation’s most affordable metropolis. A single person only needs to make $75,088 there to live comfortably.

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This article appears in Mar 20 – Apr 2, 2024.