Money + Happiness + City

This just confirms my sadness

This just confirms why I should move!

honestly i don't feel the difference going from mid 5 figures to mid 6. guess that's what happens when you drive a beater civic and live in a small home.

I would say the additional happiness I have embraced is the fact I can travel more freely and not think about the cost but state side meh playing in the yard with dog or shooting hoops at the gym i'm happy enough.

"Mo money Mo problems"

Damn. I went from almost happy to halfway happy. Thanks a lot, OP. D:<

foeplay said:   I live in Long Beach, FML.

At least you don't live in Orange County... those cities arent even listed ... the index is probably closer to 175 for Irvine/Laguna/Newport.

Looks like a bunch of randomly picked and assigned numbers. I call journalistic BS.

mwa423 said:   Interestingly enough, I just went from 2/3rds of the happiness salary to about 90% of the happiness salary for my area. I really don't find myself any happier than I was before except for the slight joy of seeing an ever increasing bank balance.

If growing your bank account only makes you slightly more happy, try spending some of that money and see what that gets you. I work to earn money that can be used buy me lifes necessities and pleasures. I don't work to horde my money like scrooge mcduck.

Does this normalize for decrease in happiness due to marriage/kids?

samiam68 said:   Looks like a bunch of randomly picked and assigned numbers. I call journalistic BS.

How so? There are various cost of living indices available. If you don't like the specific one they picked, what do you suggest is better?

Note that they used Census defined metro-areas, so it's not as granular as it could be.

samiam68 said:   arktc said:   samiam68 said:   Looks like a bunch of randomly picked and assigned numbers. I call journalistic BS.

How so? There are various cost of living indices available. If you don't like the specific one they picked, what do you suggest is better?

Note that they used Census defined metro-areas, so it's not as granular as it could be.

- The numbers are all suspiciously rounded.
- What do these dollar amounts mean? Houselhold income? Individual income?
- Is a single person in NY suburbia making $163K just as happy as a family of 5 living in the heart of the city and making the same amount?
- How exactly are these amounts calculated?
- What is defined as "happiness"? I am in the NYC metro area and personally know many people who make a ton of money and are miserable, angry, and unhappy. I also know people who make 50-60K and are perfectly happy and enjoy their lives.

90% of everything you read in financial publications is pure BS. Most of these useless studies are BS as well. People publish stuff just to publish stuff.

Someone's cranky, you must be below the happiness threshold.

jd2010 said:   samiam68 said:   arktc said:   samiam68 said:   Looks like a bunch of randomly picked and assigned numbers. I call journalistic BS.

How so? There are various cost of living indices available. If you don't like the specific one they picked, what do you suggest is better?

Note that they used Census defined metro-areas, so it's not as granular as it could be.

- The numbers are all suspiciously rounded.
- What do these dollar amounts mean? Houselhold income? Individual income?
- Is a single person in NY suburbia making $163K just as happy as a family of 5 living in the heart of the city and making the same amount?
- How exactly are these amounts calculated?
- What is defined as "happiness"? I am in the NYC metro area and personally know many people who make a ton of money and are miserable, angry, and unhappy. I also know people who make 50-60K and are perfectly happy and enjoy their lives.

90% of everything you read in financial publications is pure BS. Most of these useless studies are BS as well. People publish stuff just to publish stuff.

Someone's cranky, you must be below the happiness threshold.
Just another data point to prove how useless this data is.

hhmmmmmm per headcount or per family?

beatme said:   qcumber98 said:   This just reconfirms I'm above average in both areas.

But below average in the qcumber area? How dare you?

samiam68 said:   
- The numbers are all suspiciously rounded.
- What do these dollar amounts mean? Houselhold income? Individual income?
- Is a single person in NY suburbia making $163K just as happy as a family of 5 living in the heart of the city and making the same amount?
- How exactly are these amounts calculated?
- What is defined as "happiness"? I am in the NYC metro area and personally know many people who make a ton of money and are miserable, angry, and unhappy. I also know people who make 50-60K and are perfectly happy and enjoy their lives.

90% of everything you read in financial publications is pure BS. Most of these useless studies are BS as well. People publish stuff just to publish stuff.

I agree that 90% of what you read in financial publications is pure BS, but you also can't take these numbers for more than they are. Again, the assumptions are stated, and the numbers are fine based on what the methodology is. They aren't suspiciously rounded because they are using whole percentages and starting with $75K.

When displaying data, you always make compromises. I believe the same source published a "how much money does it take to be 'rich' in your city?" and they gave two columns, one for couples and one for families of 4, and it was based on being in the top 5% of household income for that family type in each city. Obviously, this doesn't absolutely tell us what means "rich" to someone with 8 kids in Kalispell, MT, but the idea is that you can relatively compare different cities and get a rough idea. It's never meant to be an absolute metric and shouldn't be thought of as one.

And obviously some people are in the top 5% and want to keep up with the Joneses, while others are happy where they are. Again, don't take this for more than what it is.

Ok...... Equally happy living at the same $75K salary in Ann Arbor, Detroit, or Flint, Michigan, eh? Hmmmmm Can I buy some of what they're smoking, and is it going to get me arrested?

$163k in NYC is far too low.

Claymore said:   Ok...... Equally happy living at the same $75K salary in Ann Arbor, Detroit, or Flint, Michigan, eh? Hmmmmm Can I buy some of what they're smoking, and is it going to get me arrested?

Nah thats accurate... youre in %&*#$ing michigan no matter how much you make

BS. I've lived in several cities listed and I completely disagree with the order they are in. Also, they lump MASSIVE metroplexes into one pot- depending on where you live/work in a massive city like Houston, you could make X and live in squalor or live in a mcmansion.