With costs rising for almost everything, it makes sense to live where you get more for your money
A $100,000 salary may sound like a lot of money, but that depends on how much of that $100K you have left after taxes and expenditures. For example, in New York and San Francisco you can’t even break even as a single person earning $100K, but in 10 U.S. cities, that salary actually goes pretty far.
That’s according to a new analysis by GOBankingRates, a personal finance website, which looked at the nation’s most populous places and found the top cities where a $100,000 salary is enough to live comfortably after taxes. Thinking about making a move? With plenty of work-from-home opportunities and rising expenses for just about everything, it’s just good common sense to live in one of these 10 U.S. cities where the cost of living is reasonable.
Ahead, we talked to Shanli Liu, a CPA and managing partner at Boston-based Freedomfolio, to learn more about the tax and cost of living considerations around the GOBankingRates study. Keep reading to learn which cities made the list of top 10 places where $100,000 goes the furthest.
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How was the study conducted?
GOBankingRates limited their report to the 50 most populated cities in the United States, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. They sourced cost-of-living indexes from Sperling’s BestPlaces for groceries, health care, utilities, transportation and miscellaneous expenses, and collected average annual expenditures for households earning $70,000 to $99,999, which they sourced from the 2023 Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey.
Although many people own their homes, GOBankingRates used average rental costs in each city (sourced from Zillow) as of June 2025 to determine housing costs. They added the average annual expenses and housing costs to find the total expenses for each city. GOBankingRates then subtracted the total expenditures from calculated after-tax earnings to figure out how much money would be left over. The top 10 cities all leave you with $30,000 or more. All data is current as of Aug. 12, 2025.
Where does a $100,000 salary go the furthest in the U.S.?
If city living is important to you and you want a chunk of change left over after expenses, put Memphis, Tennessee, on your list. Memphis is the city where a $100,000 salary will go the furthest in the U.S.
Why does $100,000 go the furthest in Memphis?
After paying taxes on $100,000, an individual living in Memphis is left with $78,509, which is a substantial amount in this affordable city where average annual expenditures are $39,333. That leaves $39,176 as a surplus!
According to MIT’s Living Wage Calculation, the yearly expenses in Memphis as of February 2025 are approximately $13,159 for housing, $4,272 for groceries, $3,126 for medical care and $10,112 for transportation. In New York City, on the other end of the list, annual expenditures are $81,102, and someone making $100K would be in the red by a whopping $10,986 at the end of the year.
Liu says that she often advises her clients to move to another state as part of their tax-planning strategy, and states without income tax—like Tennessee—are always a good option. “When there’s no state income tax, you keep more of what you earn right from the start,” Liu says.
Where else does $100,000 go the furthest?
The rest of the top 10 list looks promising, and each one will leave you with at least $30,000 after taxes and expenditures. Here’s where you should move to make your $100,000 salary go the furthest, in descending order.
Houston, Texas
Fun fact: Houston is known as the Energy Capital of the World and has a diverse population, with more than 145 languages spoken.
$100K after taxes: $78,509
Annual expenditures: $44,841
Income left after expenditures: $33,668
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Fun fact: Albuquerque has more than 300 days of sunshine per year and is the Hot Air Balloon Capital of the World.
$100K after taxes: $74,604
Annual expenditures: $40,865
Income left after expenditures: $33,739
Jacksonville, Florida
Fun fact: Jacksonville is the largest city by land area in the contiguous U.S.
$100K after taxes: $78,509
Annual expenditures: $44,305
Income left after expenditures: $34,204
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Fun fact: Oklahoma City is famous for being the first major U.S. city to elect a female mayor.
$100K after taxes: $74,365
Annual expenditures: $39,540
Income left after expenditures: $34,825
Tucson, Arizona
Fun fact: Tucson is home to Saguaro National Park, the only place where Saguaro cacti grow naturally.
$100K after taxes: $76,374
Annual expenditures: $41,506
Income left after expenditures: $34,868
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Fun fact: Tulsa was the “Oil Capital of the World” in 1905, which explains why it’s home to one of the country’s most extensive collections of Art Deco architecture.
$100K after taxes: $74,365
Annual expenditures: $39,211
Income left after expenditures: $35,154
El Paso, Texas
Fun fact: El Paso is situated at a unique intersection where Texas, New Mexico and Mexico meet, a region sometimes referred to as the “borderplex.”
$100K after taxes: $78,509
Annual expenditures: $42,541
Income left after expenditures: $35,968
Wichita, Kansas
Fun fact: Wichita has an entrepreneurial spirit and was the launching ground for fast-food giants Pizza Hut and White Castle.
$100K after taxes: $73,523
Annual expenditures: $36,545
Income left after expenditures: $36,978
San Antonio, Texas
Fun fact: San Antonio is the birthplace of Fritos, which were invented there in 1932.
$100K after taxes: $78,509
Annual expenditures: $40,953
Income left after expenditures: $37,556
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Sources:
- Shanli Liu, CPA and managing partner at Boston-based Freedomfolio; email interview, September 2025
- GOBankingRates: “How Far a $100,000 Salary Goes in America’s 50 Largest Cities in 2025”
- Tax Foundation: “State Individual Income Tax Rates and Brackets, 2025”
- MIT: “Living Wage Calculation for Memphis, TN”
