Are You Considered Rich
Whatever the number, focusing on income alone overlooks many factors that affect whether people feel rich or not. Where you live is obviously one of them, since $250,000 buys a lot more in Milwaukee than it does in Manhattan. And as any parent knows, household income tends to evaporate when the bills for diapers, daycare, braces, and college come due.
So Yahoo Finance crunched some numbers to figure out what it takes to be rich in 40 cities across America–for a typical couple with no kids, and for a family of four. The average U.S. household is home to 2.54 people, so factoring in the actual size of your household produces a more realistic estimate of how much income it takes to live like the wealthiest 5% of Americans. For a family of four, nationwide, that’s $490,000.
By the same measure, here’s the household income required to be “rich” in the five most and least expensive cities in our sample:
New York. Couple without kids: $359,494; Family of four: $718,989
San Francisco. Couple without kids: $359,061; Family of four: $718,123
San Jose, Calif. Couple without kids: $354,513; Family of four: $709,025
Washington. Couple without kids: $347,917; Family of four: $695,833
Boston. Couple without kids: $316,613; Family of four: $633,227
U.S. average. Couple without kids: $245,218; Family of four: $490,436
Colorado Springs, Colo. Couple without kids: $207,472; Family of four: $414,943
Omaha. Couple without kids: $207,019; Family of four: $414,038
Fresno, Calif. Couple without kids: $205,349; Family of four: $410,698
Albuquerque, N.M. Couple without kids: $193,483; Family of four: $386,965
El Paso, Texas. Couple without kids: $175,161; Family of four: $350,321
