Considering that the median annual household income in the U.S. is $56,516, a six-figure salary should be more than enough, right?
But, for some, it's not. In San Francisco, for example, a family of four making $105,350 can be considered "low income." The situation has gotten so bad in the Bay Area that some Facebook engineers reportedly asked their boss Mark Zuckerberg for help paying rent and some Twitter employees earning $160,000 feel like they're barely scraping by, according to the Guardian.
And GOP Representative Jason Chaffetz said this week that members of Congress, who earn close to $174,000 a year, could use an additional $30,000 to help them pay rent in D.C.
Credit card comparison site MagnifyMoney analyzed 381 major metro areas across the U.S. to see how far a $100,000 household income stretches across the country for families of three. To determine which cities allowed the most breathing room in the budget, MagnifyMoney created a reasonable budget for monthly expenses and subtracted that total from after-tax income, taking the cost of living for each metro area into consideration.
The findings were startling. In 71 of the places analyzed, households earning six figures spend more than 75 percent of their budget on basic monthly expenses, including food, child care, housing and transportation, leaving little for discretionary spending or saving.
Below, check out 10 places where you can earn six figures and still feel like you're struggling.
10. Santa Cruz-Watsonville, California
Monthly post-tax income: $6,291
Total monthly expenses: $5,962
Total monthly expenses as a percentage of post-tax income: 95 percent
9. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Massachusetts/New Hampshire
Monthly post-tax income: $6,204
Total monthly expenses: $5,876
Total monthly expenses as a percentage of post-tax income: 95 percent
8. Urban Honolulu, Hawaii
Monthly post-tax income: $6,098
Total monthly expenses: $5,796
Total monthly expenses as a percentage of post-tax income: 95 percent
7. Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, Hawaii
Monthly post-tax income: $6,098
Total monthly expenses: $5,796
Total monthly expenses as a percentage of post-tax income: 95 percent
6. California-Lexington Park, Maryland
Monthly post-tax income: $6,014
Total monthly expenses: $5,727
Total monthly expenses as a percentage of post-tax income: 95 percent
5. New York-Newark-Jersey City, New York/New Jersey
Monthly post-tax income: $6,370
Total monthly expenses: $6,101
Total monthly expenses as a percentage of post-tax income: 96 percent
4. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, California
Monthly post-tax income: $6,291
Total monthly expenses: $6,023
Total monthly expenses as a percentage of post-tax income: 96 percent
3. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California
Monthly post-tax income: $6,291
Total monthly expenses: $6,212
Total monthly expenses as a percentage of post-tax income: 99 percent
2. Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Connecticut
Monthly post-tax income: $6,297
Total monthly expenses: $6,436
Total monthly expenses as a percentage of post-tax income: 102 percent
1. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, District of Columbia/Virginia
Monthly post-tax income: $6,264
Total monthly expenses: $6,578
Total monthly expenses as a percentage of post-tax income: 105 percent
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