If you feel like your dollar isn’t stretching as far as it did a year ago, you’re probably right.
A new report by the financial firm SmartAsset says Americans need more income than ever to live comfortably. Like a lot more.
To live comfortably in Texas, a person needs about $90,000 a year or $204,000 for a family of four, the report found. That’s far more than Dallas’ average median household income of $74,350.
As far as affordability, Texas falls in the middle of the pack. Hawaii, Massachusetts and California are the most expensive states; West Virginia, Arkansas and South Dakota are the least.
On average, a person needs about $5,800 more earnings than last year, and a family of four needs $9,360 more, SmartAsset found.
The definition of comfortable living varies from person to person, but the firm used what it called the 50/30/20 rule to create its rankings. That means 50% of income goes to necessities, such as housing, food, transportation and medical expenses; 30% goes to discretionary spending like travel and hobbies, and 20% goes to retirement savings or paying off debt.
It then used the MIT Living Wage Calculator, which gathers data on the average costs of housing, transportation, child care and other expenses by county and state.
Costs are up largely across the board. From 2020 to 2024, food prices increased by about 23%, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. The price of homes is up 3.4% from last year, although prices remained flat in Dallas/Fort Worth.
Rent costs have also soared in recent years. In Dallas, nearly a quarter of households devote more than 50% of their income to rent, while about half spend over 30%. People who spend more than 30% of their income on housing are considered cost-burdened.
A glimmer of good news: The median cost of rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Dallas dropped about 10% from a year ago, now at $1,350.
Previous studies have broken down cost of living by city. Earlier this year, a study by SmartAsset found that Dallas residents need $95,930 or $213,000 for a family of four.