Securing a job with the base pay of $100,000 sounds like a great opportunity, but what does your paycheck look like after taxes, especially when you live in an major urban area?
Financial data firm SmartAsset recently crunched the numbers on what a $100,000 salary translates to in 76 U.S. cities. They found an annual paycheck of that size means the least in New York City, where it equates to $35,791 in take-home pay after cost-of-living adjustments, and the most in Memphis, Tennessee, where it amounts to $86,444.
Here are some cities where your take home pay doesn’t go far:
City | Take-Home Pay |
New York, NY | $35,791 |
Honolulu, HI | $36,026 |
San Francisco, CA | $36,445 |
Washington, DC | $44,307 |
Los Angeles, CA | $44,623 |
Long Beach, CA | $44,623 |
San Diego, CA | $46,167 |
Oakland, CA | $46,198 |
Boston, MA | $46,588 |
Seattle, WA | $48,959 |
You are probably asking where Houston stands on this list. Well, Houston is sitting in a pretty good position at number six on the list of top cities where $100,000 goes the furthest, with an H-town value of $81,171. Memphis takes the top spot with $86,444.
Multiple cities in Texas have also taken positions in the 10 spots, including El Paso, Corpus Christie, Lubbock, San Antonio, Fort Worth and Arlington. Shout out to no state taxes and low cost of living.
Rank | City | Take-Home Pay |
1 | Memphis, TN | $86,444 |
2 | El Paso, TX | $84,966 |
3 | Oklahoma City, OK | $84,498 |
4 | Corpus Christi, TX | $83,443 |
5 | Lubbock, TX | $83,350 |
6 | Houston, TX | $81,171 |
7 | San Antonio, TX (Tie) | $80,124 |
7 | Fort Worth, TX (Tie) | $80,124 |
7 | Arlington, TX (Tie) | $80,124 |
10 | St. Louis, MO | $79,921 |
Smart Asset’s calculated these numbers by using a paycheck calculator to apply taxes to the annual salary of $100,000. It calculates the take-home pay per paycheck from both salary and hourly jobs after taking into account federal, state, and local taxes, then adjusted the remaining amount got the local cost of living.
There are a few important tax tips you should consider if you are a six-figure earner.
- Max out your retirement accounts
- Calculate your cost of living
- Work with a professional