Bay Area Leads as Cities Require Six-Figure Incomes to Live Comfortably

A Voronoi/Visual Capitalist visualization ranks 56 U.S. cities by the annual income a family of four must earn to live comfortably under a 50/30/20 budget (MIT Living Wage Calculator, Feb 2026). San Francisco (~$408k) and San Jose (~$403k) top the list, with six California cities in the top 10 and a wide gap driven mainly by housing costs; even the least expensive metros require about $193k (San Antonio), illustrating how living costs vary across the country.