A new study shows that if you make over $100,000 a year in New York City, you're only middle class. NY Daily News:
A New Yorker would have to make $123,322 a year to have the same standard of living as someone making $50,000 in Houston.This is a point that I've tried to make repeatedly in a number of posts. Congress and the administration need to stop making federal financial benefits, such as home tax credits and tax cuts, contingent on salary unless the salary caps take into account where in the country you live. It makes no sense to give someone making $70,000 a year in Houston a $7500 first-time homebuyer tax credit, while telling a New Yorker who makes $101,000 a year that she's too rich to get the same credit - when in fact, the New Yorker is actually making significantly less money than the Houston resident, once you take into account the cost of living both cities.
In Manhattan, a $60,000 salary is equivalent to someone making $26,092 in Atlanta....
The average monthly rent in New York is $2,801, 53% higher than San Francisco, the second most expensive city in the country.
