Adults need to earn $90K to live comfortably in Minneapolis, survey claims

Single adults living in Minneapolis need to earn more than $90,000 annually to live comfortably, claims a survey by a financial planning firm. In St. Paul, they need to earn $87,000 a year to hit that mark.

That equates to an hourly pay of $44.98 in Minneapolis and $42.00 in Minnesota’s capital city — far larger than the median annual household income of $76,332 in Minneapolis and $69,919 in St. Paul, according to U.S. census data.

The SmartAsset study is based on the popular 50/30/20 budget. It says 50% of one’s salary should be devoted to needs like housing and food, 30% toward hobbies and wants and 20% to savings, investments or paying off debt.

Tyler Schipper, an associate economics professor at the University of St. Thomas, said the survey numbers are eye-popping, but also somewhat in the eye of the beholder.

“It seems like a lot comes down to what they mean by ‘comfortable,’” Schipper wrote in an email.

For two working adults with two children, the ‘comfortable’ salaries skyrocket to $261,914 in Minneapolis and $256,589 in St. Paul, according to the study.

MIT’s Living Wage Calculator looks at the costs of eight basic necessities that include childcare, civic engagement, food, health care, housing, transportation, internet and mobile to capture a region’s cost of living. SmartAsset methodology was to use its data as a baseline total wage, adding in 30% of the total in wants and 20% in savings or debt for individuals or families.

Until the the steadily rising costs of the essentials are addressed, the cost of living will keep ticking up for families in Minnesota and around the country, said Rakeen Mabud, chief economist at Groundwork Collaborative, an economic think tank.

To get by without too many fun or games, a single adult needs to earn $40,127 post-tax in Hennepin County and $37,866 in Ramsey County, according to MIT.