This is how much money you need to make to live comfortably in the Phoenix area (2024)

PHOENIX - A new study from Smart Asset breaks down how much money people living in the 25 largest metropolitan areas in the United States need to make in order to live comfortably.

The Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale area, which was grouped together, finished above the midway point, coming in at 14th on the list.

According to the study, a Phoenix-area resident without children would need to make $65,670 after taxes to live comfortably.

The study is based on the MIT Living Wage Calculator, which uses the cost of housing, food, transportation, medical care and more.

A Phoenix resident needs to make at least $32,835 to afford basic living expenses, or $38,043 before taxes, according to the calculator.

In order to determine a "comfortable" lifestyle, the study used the 50/30/20 rule, which requires 50% of after-tax income to go to needs, 30% to go to wants, and 20% for savings or debt payments.

Unsurprisingly, the San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley area was the most expensive place to live, requiring $84,026 after taxes to live comfortably. California showed up multiples times on the list with the San Diego (2) and Los Angeles (6) areas also landing in the top ten.

Salary needed to live comfortably in the 25 largest metro areas, after taxes

1. San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA, $84,026
2. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA, $79,324
3. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH, $78,752
4. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA, $78,524
5. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA, $77,634
6. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA, $76,710
7. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, $76,194
8. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA, $74,086
9. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO, $70,892
10. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL, $67,740
11. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA, $67,060
12. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL, $67,056
13. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA, $66,580
14. Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ, $65,670
15. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI, $65,500
16. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL, $65,148
17. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, $64,742
18. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, $62,908
19. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI, $62,798
20. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX, $62,260
21. Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC, $62,110
22. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, $61,678
23. San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX, $59,270
24. Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI, $58,358
25. St. Louis, MO-IL, $57,446

FOX 4 KDFW contributed to this report.