A brand new report analyzing how a lot it prices to stay “in sustainable consolation” within the greatest U.S. cities has discovered San Antonio residents have the bottom wage requirement to stay a cushty life in 2026, and that determine is about $3,500 decrease than it was final yr.
SmartAsset’s annual report discovered single grownup residents in San Antonio have to make $83,242 a yr to qualify as “financially secure.” Final yr, single San Antonians wanted to make $86,694 to stay comfortably within the metropolis.
Households with two working mother and father and two youngsters have to make a family earnings of $192,608 to have a financially secure life in San Antonio, the report discovered. That is $6,573 decrease than what households wanted to make final yr.
To find out the rankings, SmartAsset’s analysts examined 100 of the most important U.S. cities and used the most recent value of dwelling knowledge – reminiscent of the prices for housing, meals, transportation, and earnings taxes the place relevant – from the MIT Dwelling Wage Calculator for childless people and for 2 working adults with two youngsters.
For the aim of the research, the 50/30/20 budgeting technique was used to find out “comfy way of life” prices for each people and households: 50 p.c of earnings to cowl wants and dwelling bills, 30 p.c for “needs,” and 20 p.c for financial savings or paying down debt.
This is a breakdown of a San Antonio resident’s comfy way of life based mostly on SmartAsset’s findings:
$41,621 devoted to wants and dwelling bills$24,973 devoted to needs$16,648 devoted to financial savings or debt reimbursement
That is SmartAsset’s interpretation of a cushty way of life for households of 4:
$96,304 devoted to wants and dwelling bills$57,782 devoted to needs$38,522 devoted to financial savings or debt reimbursement
SmartAsset mentioned single people and households ought to evaluate the fluctuating native value of dwelling and their long-term objectives to totally “perceive the context” of their respective family incomes. However it’s value declaring {that a} financially secure life in San Antonio is not fairly attainable for a lot of residents: Town had a median family earnings of $66,176 in 2024, in keeping with the U.S. Census Bureau.
Elsewhere in Texas, the report discovered that households within the Dallas-Fort Price of suburbs Frisco and McKinney “are closest to a cushty wage.”
“In Frisco, [Texas], the median family earns $145,444 – considerably greater than the nationwide median of $83,730,” the report’s creator wrote. “This determine additionally accounts for 63.1 p.c of the $230,464 earnings a household of 4 in Frisco must stay comfortably. In McKinney, TX, the $124,177 median family earnings accounts for 53.9 p.c of the $230,464 wanted.”
The 2 suburbs additionally tied with Plano for the twenty ninth highest wage wanted nationally to stay comfortably in 2026, and the No. 1 highest wage necessities in Texas. Single adults dwelling in these cities have to make $109,242 a yr to stay a financially secure life this yr.
