What It Actually Costs to Live in America’s Most Expensive Cities

by Michael B. Sauter and Grant Suneson, WS 24/7, September 13, 2019 (excerpts)

…24/7 Wall St. reviewed estimates from financial think tank the Economic Policy Institute on what it would cost a single adult or a family of four (two parents and two children) to have a “modest yet adequate standard of living.” We used the data to determine what it actually costs to live comfortably in America’s most expensive cities. In the majority of cases in these expensive metro areas, the typical income for a single adult or a family is lower than EPI’s estimated cost. It is important to note that EPI’s estimate is not the standard of what people need to survive in a city, but what they would need to live an adequate and comfortable life. The estimate figures also represent how much money households of different sizes would need to afford all of the components determined to represent this adequate standard of living. For example, while EPI’s child care cost figures are included for the estimated monthly costs for a family of four, many families receive free childcare from family or friends, or have their expenses subsidized through needs-based reduced-cost care or public assistance programs such as Medicaid….

#3. Urban Honolulu, HI
> Monthly cost of living, family of 4: $9,632
> Monthly median family income (all types): $7,975
> Monthly cost of living, single adult: $4,296
> Monthly housing costs, single adult: $1,261
> Monthly food costs, single adult: $381
> Monthly median individual income: $3,215

read … Full Report

HNN: Here’s how much it actually costs for a family of 4 to live in Honolulu