CHARLOTTE — Personal finance website SmartAsset found last year that a six-figure salary is needed to “live comfortably” in Charlotte. Now, that figure has jumped even higher.
The site found in a recent study that, based on the 50/30/20 rule for budgeting, a single adult in the Queen City needs to make an annual salary of $110,614 to live comfortably — up 9.2% from the estimated $101,338 required just a year ago. For a family of four, a salary of $244,192 is needed, up about 3.4% from $235,123 in last year’s study.
Meanwhile, SmartAsset pegs the median household income in Charlotte at $80,581.
Using the 50/30/20 formula, 50% of a person’s budget is allocated for needs such as housing, groceries and transportation, 30% is earmarked for wants such as entertainment and hobbies, and 20% is reserved for paying off debt, saving or investing. SmartAsset used data from the MIT Living Wage Calculator to compile its report, focusing on the 100 largest U.S. cities by population.
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