Washington, D.C., is more expensive than New York City
by Catey Hill
Market Watch
In some spots in this country, it costs parents well into six figures just to eke by.
The amount that a two-parent, two-child family needs just to pay the bills (but not have money left over for savings) ranges from about $50,000 to more than $100,000 depending on where a family lives, according to data from the nonprofit and nonpartisan think tank the Economic Policy Institute.
“This does not mean a middle-class lifestyle,” says Elise Gould, a senior economist with EPI. “This is just living, no savings.”
The study looked at 618 metro areas and calculated the cost of living in each based on the costs of housing, child care, food, transportation, health care and other necessities (such as school supplies and clothing), as well as taxes.