Houston Area Residents Face Rising Cost of "Comfortable" Living: Over $200K for Families

​​People all over Texas are feeling the pinch of rising living costs, from the bustling city center of Houston to the growing outskirts of Conroe. A new study from SmartAsset reveals that the cost of living a "comfortable" life in the Lone Star State has increased, making it more challenging for many people to maintain a financially stable lifestyle.

The personal finance website used detailed information from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Living Wage Calculator to determine that a single adult in Texas needs to earn $90,771 per year before taxes to live comfortably. That scary number increases to $204,922 per year for a family of four. 

SmartAsset's head of economic analysis, Jaclyn DeJohn, said, "This means being able to afford hobbies, vacations, retirement savings, college funds, and the occasional emergency, in addition to necessities like housing, groceries, transportation, and medical bills."

Most people follow the 50/30/20 rule when creating their budgets: 50% of your income should be allocated toward necessities, 30% toward discretionary expenses, and 20% toward savings or debt repayment.  SmartAsset essentially doubled MIT's standard living wage, which only covers basic needs, to determine this "comfort" level. This was done to account for the necessary financial breathing room for a truly secure lifestyle.

According to figures from MIT, a two-parent, two-child household in Texas needs $102,463 just to cover basic costs. In big cities like Houston, where the costs of housing and childcare are very high, this number increases even further, to approximately $105,000. Inflationary pressures persist in the region, even in areas such as Conroe, where housing prices may be slightly lower than in downtown Houston.

Texas is still somewhat affordable compared to other states—ranking 31st for individual comfort and 40th for families—but most people who live there can not afford to live there because their incomes do not meet these standards. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the median household income in the state is approximately $76,000, which is significantly lower than what SmartAsset considers a "comfortable" level.

The financial gap is getting bigger across the country. DeJohn said that people need approximately $5,844 more per year than they did last year to maintain their level of comfort, and families require an additional $9,360. 

Hawaii has the most expensive housing and food, so a single person needs $124,864 a year to live comfortably there. Massachusetts has the highest income requirement for families in the country, at an amazing $314,000. 

Even though Texas has relatively lower costs, SmartAsset's results make it clear that even higher earners are finding it harder to keep up with their daily costs as incomes continue to rise faster than costs across the state.