Once upon a time, Americans flocked to the Sonoran Desert to enjoy a comfortable, sun-drenched and air-conditioned lifestyle at an affordable price. The AC and the heat haven’t gone away, but as Phoenix has become increasingly expensive in the last decade, it’s worth asking: How much money do you need to live the good life in these high times of late-stage American capitalism?
A new study from travel website Upgraded Points endeavored to answer that question — not just for the Phoenix metro area, but for cities across the United States. The analysis used data from the Economic Policy Institute and the U.S. Census Bureau that estimate the annual cost of living and median income.
Obviously, comfort is more of a subjective psychological state than anything else — the richest person might have every material possession they can dream of yet still be uncomfortable. But for the purposes of analysis, “living comfortably” means three things — being able to pay for expenses like housing, food, transportation, health care and child care; having the means to put away 20% of income for savings or debt payments; and using 30% for discretionary spending…