It's no surprise that San Francisco is among the most expensive cities to live in the U.S., yet according to a new study, it ranks first among the country's 25 largest cities for requiring the highest salary to live comfortably.
A study by financial technology company SmartAsset found that a single person without children needs $84,026 after taxes to maintain a comfortable lifestyle in the San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley area of California.
Following the general budgeting rule of 50 percent of income is spent on needs, 30 percent on wants and 20 percent goes toward savings or debt repayment, and using the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Cost of Living Calculator, SmartAsset found that the average person spends $42,013 on annual living expenses in the San Francisco area.
However, the analysis also found that despite remaining the most expensive location in the study, San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley had the smallest year-over-year increase in after-tax revenue needed since a year ago at just 13.12 percent.