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The Boston metropolitan area requires the third-highest paycheck out of the 25 metropolitan cities including in the SmartAsset study, requiring an after-tax salary of $78,752 for a single person to live comfortably. This figure is considerably higher than the average after-tax salary needed to live comfortably in metro areas, which is calculated at $67,060.
The study used the MIT Living Wage Calculator data to gather the cost of living for an individual with no childre and used the 50/30/20 budget rule which allocates 50% of after-tax income to basic living expenses, 30% to discretionary spending, and 20% for savings and debt payments.
Overall salaries increased in 2022, rising 5.1%, but the raises did not make up for the 8% inflation rate in the same time frame.
Beating out the rest of the major US metropolitan areas was St. Louis, where a comfortable lifestyle will cost you a $57,446 after-tax salary. On the opposite side of the spectrum, the San Francisco Bay area is the least affordable, requiring a take-home pay of over $84,000 to live comfortably.
To read the full SmartAsset study, click here.
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