Top 10 Most Expensive Cities in the United States Where Earning $300,000 is Equivalent to $100,000.

The ten most expensive cities in the US were revealed, where you’d need to earn $300,000 to feel like earning $100,000 — and New York wasn’t high on the list.

Surprisingly, Honolulu is the most expensive city, followed by New York and San Francisco.

Rating compiled by a personal finance advisor SmartAsset It ranked 76 US cities to determine which are the cheapest and most expensive to live in.

To have the “buying power” of $100,000 each year, you’ll obviously need an annual salary above that, but the extra amount will depend on local taxes and the cost of living.

In Honolulu, New York, and San Francisco, a salary of around $310,000 to $100,000 boils down to just considering taxes and the increased cost of living.

By contrast, in Memphis, El Paso, and Oklahoma City, a relatively low salary of around $120,000 will provide the same feeling of financial freedom, or a “new” $100,000.

In Memphis, El Paso, and Oklahoma City, a relatively low salary of around $120,000 will provide the same sense of financial freedom, or a “new” $100,000.

Honolulu in Hawaii is found to be one of the most expensive cities in the country. To make you feel as though you have $100,000 to spend after taxes, that’s a whopping $312,000.

This ranking is strongly influenced by local taxes – all the most expensive states, California, Hawaii and New York, have a high income tax.

The state income tax is about eight percent on an annual income of $312,000 in California. In Hawaii and New York, the percentage is about nine and six percent, respectively.

Similarly, the states with the cheapest cities, Tennessee and Texas, have no income tax. Meanwhile, income tax in Oklahoma is relatively low — about 4 percent on an income of $120,000 annually.

Cost of living was considered using the Community and Economic Research Council’Cost of living data, according to SmartAsset. It takes into account the price of housing, groceries, utilities, transportation and other necessary purchases.

The full list revealed that other California cities require similarly large annual salaries in order to provide a sense of having $100,000 to spend after taxes.

In Oakland, ranked the fourth most expensive city in the US, a salary of at least $246K is needed to make you feel like you have $100K to take home.

Los Angeles and Long Beach, both in California, placed fifth and sixth. In either case $245,000 is needed to provide the buying power of $100,000.

Other cities that make up the top 10 most expensive cities include: Washington, D.C., San Diego, Boston, and Seattle. In Seattle, it boils down to $210,000 to $100,000.

San Francisco was another city where more than $300,000 in income was needed to provide $100,000 in purchasing power

Memphis, Tennessee, was the cheapest city in the country, according to the ranking. In Memphis, an annual salary of $117.00 would leave you with purchasing power of $100,000 after tax

On the other end of the spectrum, Corpus Christi, Texas, is found to be the fourth cheapest city in the United States. In the coastal city on the Gulf of Mexico, a salary of just $122,000 would feel like $100,000.

Other cities that were in the top 10 were mostly in Texas — Lubbock, Houston, San Antonio, Fort Worth, and Arlington — as well as St. Louis, Missouri.

US Census data from last month painted a similar picture. In terms of local internal migration, people have been recorded leaving counties in high-tax states and moving to countries with lower taxes.

Counties including Los Angeles, Chicago and New York experienced the largest exodus in the country – while tens of thousands poured into Arizona, Texas and Florida.

Los Angeles County, still the most populous county in the United States, saw an average of 143,000 people die between July 2021 and July 2022, according to census data.

It was followed by Cook County, home to Chicago, which lost about 94,000 people in other parts of the country. Three New York City counties — Kings, Queens and the Bronx — were among the first five counties to face an exodus.

On the other hand, Maricopa County in Arizona, home to Phoenix, has seen the largest influx of domestic immigrants, around 33,000.

It was followed closely by Collin County in Texas, and Polk County in Florida.