The price of living comfortably in Pittsburgh is getting steep
A new study says a single adult living in Pennsylvania would need to earn $97,011 a year to live comfortably. Few Pittsburghers make that much.
In Pittsburgh, where many workers earn far less than $100,000, a new study offers a sobering definition of what it takes to live comfortably.
SmartAsset estimates that a single adult living in Pennsylvania needs to earn $97,011 a year to live comfortably. For a family of four, the income needed jumps to $247,936,
“Most families of four are living on significantly less,” said Shay Port, a Shadyside-based financial coach. “I could see that amount needing to be there to put kids in private school. But less than that, you probably can’t afford it, and people seem to go into debt for tuition.”
Her observations point to the significant gap between what many Pittsburgh households earn (which is between $61,000 and $78,000, according to several different sources) and what it takes to meet SmartAsset’s definition of financial comfort.
“As housing, grocery, transportation and other essential costs pressure household budgets, earning a six-figure salary no longer guarantees financial comfort in much of the U.S.,” according to SmartAsset, a personal finance information company based in New York.
The SmartAsset study, which ranks Pennsylvania No. 26 among the 50 states for the income needed to live comfortably, is based on the MIT Living Wage Calculator and the 50/30/20 budgeting rule.
Under that rule, 50% of income should go toward necessities such as housing, food and utilities, 30% toward wants such as entertainment and vacations, and 20% toward savings, investing debt repayment and emergencies.
For Pittsburgh workers earning $40,000 to $50,000 a year, Port said, simply covering the necessities can leave little room for anything else.
“A starting salary really needs to be up to $65,000 for a single person to even begin to live in a normal place by themselves and pay bills,” Port said. “And that doesn’t include saving up to buy a house or something.
“But $50,000 is just too low,” she said. “And that’s often still the salary in Pittsburgh. A lot of starting salaries are still between $40,000 and $50,000 and that’s for people with master’s degrees.”
High income, high debt
The challenge to make ends meet doesn’t necessarily disappear when the paycheck gets bigger.
Heather Murray, vice president at Advantage Credit Counseling on the South Side, said her agency counsels consumers earning well into six figures who are struggling with credit card debt.
“The average income of the Pennsylvania consumers that we have counseled so far this year is $85,000, with an average amount of $35,000 in credit card debt ” Murray said.
“In addition to their credit cards, they also have secured debt in the form of a mortgage and car payment,” she said. “On average, those households have a $700 monthly budget deficit.
“Most consumers are living paycheck to paycheck,” Murray said. “If they have a surplus in their monthly budget it’s very small.”
However, everything is relative when it comes to financial struggles.
And the higher the income, the higher the debt.
Murray said Pennsylvania clients earning income in the $75,000 range have an average credit card debt of $34,000. Clients who have an income of $100,000 have an average credit card debt of $46,000. And clients in the $150,000 income range have an average credit card debt of $74,000.
“This does not include a mortgage payment, car payment or student loan payments,” Murray said. “The need to have an income of $247,000 for a family of four is probably a good estimate, based on what we are seeing with our clients.
“Consumers are really struggling with the high cost of living expenses and it’s showing in their budgets,” she said.
‘You can’t live on your own’
Under the 50/30/20 budgeting rule, a Pennsylvania single adult needs to earn $97,011 before taxes to have enough money to cover necessities while still leaving room for free spending and financial security.
That’s a long way from what Pittsburgh workers actually earn.
ZipRecruiter puts the average Pittsburgh salary at $61,745 a year as of August 2026. PayScale comes in higher, at roughly $77,000. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an hourly wage of $31.36 in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area in May 2025 — roughly $65,000 a year for someone working full-time.
Depending on which measure you use, the typical Pittsburgh worker could be earning $20,000 to $35,000 less than SmartAsset’s comfort threshold.
Other data put the gap in perspective.
MIT’s Living Wage Calculator estimates that a single adult with zero children living in Pittsburgh needs to earn $22.25 an hour, or roughly $46,280 a year working full-time, to simply cover basic necessities. For a single adult with one child, a wage of $38.70, or $80,500 is needed.
Those numbers are for a living wage — not a comfortable wage.
“In Pittsburgh, certainly rents are high,” Shay said. For a single person, it’s hard to find that under $1,000 a month rent anymore.
“You can’t live on your own if you are making between $2,000 and $3,000 a month,” Shay said. “A $65,000 salary take home pay would be around $3,800 a month. That is doable.”
Among the key findings in the SmartAsset report are that in most states, a family of four needs at least $200,000 a year to live comfortably. That threshold applies in 40 states for households with two working adults and two children.
Massachusetts and Hawaii are the most expensive states to live comfortably. Massachusetts is the most expensive state for a family of four, with an income requirement of $329,555. Hawaii is the most expensive state for single adults, who need $129,002.
Mississippi and West Virginia are the least expensive states to live comfortably. Mississippi is the least expensive state for a family of four, with an income requirement of $187,533. West Virginia is the least expensive state for single adults, who need $81,245.
In six states, the income needed to live comfortably has declined since 2025: Tennessee, Maryland, Louisiana, North Carolina, Mississippi and Texas.
First Published: August 24, 2026, 8:00 a.m.
Tim Grant
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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