Earning $100,000 used to automatically mean you’d live a comfortable life, but these days it doesn’t go as far as it used to, particularly in big cities like New York and San Francisco.
The inflation rate reached more than 9% less than two years ago, and though it has gone down to 3.1% in January 2024, pockets and wallets continue to reel from high prices.
This six-figure salary is still a substantial one, but it can be worth so much more- or so much less- depending on where you live. Aside from inflation, there are other factors that affect your purchasing power, such as taxes and cost of living, including housing, transportation, and food.
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What is purchasing power?
Purchasing power is the ability of an individual or household to buy goods and services with a given amount of money; in this case, $100,000. It represents the real value of money in terms of the quantity of goods and services that you can buy with it in the marketplace.
Changes in purchasing power can have significant implications for consumption patterns and overall standards of living. This is why it’s important to take into account the place where you live, as this can greatly affect your purchasing power.
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Using data from the latest cost-of-living index by @TheEIU, our sister company, we created a “cost-of-loving index”. It ranks the world’s most expensive cities in which to go on a romantic night out. Find out which cities made the list https://t.co/QyQC0nxx77 👇
— The Economist (@TheEconomist) February 14, 2024
Top 10 cities where a $100,000 salary is worth the most in 2024
Finance company SmartAsset recently made a study on where a $100,000 income can go the furthest in the US. The research found that those who earn this much will get the biggest bang for their buck in El Paso, Texas, as this figure is equivalent to $88,840 of purchasing power. This is in stark contrast to living in Manhattan, where your money will be worth less than half that, at $30,914 of purchasing power.
Here are cities which offer the strongest purchasing power for $100,000 wages.
| CITY | PURCHASING POWER |
|---|---|
| El Paso, Texas | $88,840 |
| Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | $87,585 |
| Memphis, Tennessee | $86,960 |
| Corpus Christi, Texas | $86,383 |
| San Antonio, Texas | $85,625 |
| Lubbock, Texas | $85,065 |
| Tulsa, Oklahoma | $84,507 |
| Jacksonville, Florida | $83,878 |
| Houston, Texas | $82,986 |
| St. Louis, Missouri | $82,614 |
At the other end of the scale, Honolulu, Hawaii follows Manhattan, New York on the list of cities where $100,000 is worth the least, at $39,148 of purchasing power. San Francisco, California is next at $40,997, followed by Brooklyn, New York at $43,376 and Los Angeles, California at $47,762.
