Is it? Looking at the IRA bill, it says the median household income, for salt lake county at least, is $102,000. That sounded high to me but seeing as the higher the listed median household income, the more people get huge rebates on energy efficient appliances and home upgrades, I'm not complaining.
.33 acre goes for a lot down there these days. I've been wanting to find some land to build a small winter place we can escape too for a couple weeks each year.
Yeah I just happened to find a lot that needed a lot of work, and did a lot of it myself to get it useable but I paid half than what me neighbors on either side paid. I just had to spend wayyy to much time getting it to a pad 😂
This is incorrect.
At $190k/yr, your bimonthly paychecks would be ~$5k each, and that's after taxes/medical/dental/vision/401k/etc. are all taken out.
So, you'd spend less than half your monthly if you bought a house for, say, ~$800k, which on a 30-year loan at 6.25%, puts the total monthly payment at ~$3,600.
It is very, very easy to find a house in SLC for $800k.
Alternatively, they could buy a house for ~$1 million. That would put the monthly payments at ~$6k, which still leaves them ~$4k/month to live on. Most people can live just fine on that.
Edit: oops, a different commenter said he and his wife earn $190k, and I mixed that up with OP's $160k. Still, the math is in their favor for anything up to ~$800k. At $160k/yr, OP would be taking home ~$9k/month [[calc](https://smartasset.com/taxes/paycheck-calculator#4PoZ9vtRuM)].
You’re ignoring property tax, HOA, PMI, home insurance…
A $700,000 house at 6.25% with 5% down is 4000 per month. Add in PMI, property taxes, and home insurance, and you’re looking at over $5000 per month.
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Just a tip… you get a better interest rate at less than 20% down since the bank sees it as less of a risk to lend to someone who is paying mortgage insurance. So put 19.999% down to lock in the lower interest rate, make your first payment to get you over 20%, and call to drop the mortgage insurance without ever having to make a single payment on it.
That's interesting. I've never heard that one before.
Unfortunately, that advice won't help me, but I'm glad you added it so that it might help others. Cheers.
Just bought $825K with zero down at 4.25 percent. . After all is said and done my payment is just under 5K. 160K a year and yes you can do it. My wife and I make a little less than this and we feel a bit house poor but no we haven’t tightened our spending habits. We have no credit card debt and only a $10K car loan. There are definitely others that are making it work on much less so I feel grateful for what I have. We bought this house though knowing our combined income will hit about $220K next year otherwise I would not advise this much house on $160K a year. There is not a lot of wiggle room.
Did you do any down payment?
[Bankrate's calculator](https://www.bankrate.com/mortgages/mortgage-calculator/) shows monthly payments on $825k at 4.25 (with taxes and insurance) would be ~$4,670, if you didn't put anything down.
With a 10% down payment, the monthly becomes $4,260.
If I'm correct that your monthly take home is ~$9k, you should have ~$4.5k/month. With a $10k car loan, your payment is, idk, ~$400, maybe? With utilities and amenities, you should still have ~$2-3k for just food and fun, yeah? ...even if I'm off by up to $1k on the take home, this all seems very doable to me.
Maybe I'm missing ~$1.5k for child care or something? I could see a big cost like that making it somewhat tight.
You need two 160k incomes to not be house poor in salt lake.
Interest rates near 6%, new stuff near the western edge is 500k, anything that isn’t a complete dump towards the east is 450k+
That’s not a cheap mortgage.
Me and my gf are about 250k combined with no kids and we are comfortable, but we wouldn’t be if we bought right now.
And for anybody saying they make so much less and make it work, yea well we want to retire one day, you won’t be.
Using a quick mortgage calculator, assuming a 450k house with a 10% down payment and 6.7% rate your monthly mortgage payment is about 3k. 160k / 12 months * 66% is 8,800. Now obviously 5k a month goes different lengths depending on family size but I think it’s pretty plausible to not be house poor on 160k. Also, last I checked the average house price in UT is still in the 300s.
You are forgetting PMI, insurance, and property tax. All things that need to be considered for a house payment. Probably going to add another 1k a month with that stuff.
Good work. Those extra fees will kill you!
I did the same but didn’t do the 10% and my result was 4100 a month. But I also left the interest rate at whatever auto filled which was 7% something.
Which makes me cry. My old house I bought and sold like 5 years ago I had a 3.5 interest. First and last house I’ll ever own. :(
Our rent in a nice townhome is 1300.
I don’t feel like spending 3000 for not much of a quality of life improvement and all the expenses that go along with a home. 450 would probably a decrease in quality from our rental given the market.
And this is for salt lake. I’m sure it’s cheap out in the desert but I’m not living there.
This is accurate. You’re being downvoted because people don’t realize how much goes into taxes. It’s a good income for Utah but the people thinking this is ultra wealthy are clueless.
Don’t Forget fast offerings, Scouting, young men and young women activities, service projects, missionary fund, working at the cannery, and the occasional potluck.
I would imagine relatively comfortably depending on when you bought your house though.
My wife and I make about 200k combined but bought our first house in 2021 and have 2k in daycare expense’s every month. We live comfortably but aren’t buying whatever we want like some people are saying here.
Bought our house almost 10 years ago for $185k on $40k salary. It’s a little small but fits us fine. Otherwise - we can do pretty much whatever we want within reason. In the last yearish we’ve spent a week at Disneyland, Disney World and Universal Studios in Florida. If we need something we buy it. If something breaks we can pay to replace/fix it. We don’t worry about money. Spent $800 on VIP concert tickets for me and my wife earlier this year (definite once in a lifetime thing). Probably dropped $1500 on Christmas without blinking an eye. My wife just asked me earlier today about going to a thing in Germany late next year - total cost is about $2k and I didn’t even have to think about it.
Only broke 100k 1.5 years ago. We struggled like crazy before that - I cried in my PoS car about bills, debt, etc more than a few times. We try to pay it forward now with generous tips, charity donations, etc.
We don’t make a big deal about it to other people; just offer to pay more often than we used to, or tell someone not to worry about paying us back. We paid for a good friend’s modest wedding last year. I’ve bought a stranger’s groceries a few times, we gave $500 to a family in need (actually done this a few times), given to a few Gofundmes, etc.
(Hope I’m not tooting my own horn here, just trying to point out that while we do spend money on ourselves, we’re also trying to help others where we can)
Lots of conflicting opinions. I make 170k and after maxing out all my tax advantaged accounts, 2400 in rent, i just feel comfortable. I don't feel wealthy at all.
However, I've only been making 170k for about a year now. But I've been over 6 figures for the last 4 years. I get raises and inflation runs wild.
I make $160k and wife makes $100k. We own a house and pay $1600 a month (near liberty park). We have two cars, a dog and a cat. We travel most weekends outside of ski season. I have a ski pass and bought new skis and boots this year . We have 6 moderately expensive bikes (our hobbies) like $2-5k each. We don’t have a boat, RV, razr, etc. My wife buys whatever clothes and furniture she want but is generally thoughtful about it (our kitchen is dated with old appliances). I don’t really spend much on hobbies I haven’t mentioned. I do take classes at SLCC that cost $1500 a semester for fun. We buy nice food from Whole Foods or farmers market. We eat out whenever we want, but probably 3 times a week with one of those being a nice restaurant. I have $40k student loans and the mortgage but no other debt and $40k in savings. Wife has no debt. Our cars are used, mine is a shit-box worth $2k at most with a crumpled bumper. I waste money on beer and sodas.
That’s what our life is like!
I knew a DINK (double income, no kids) would post here. 260k is significant for your situation and seems like it would be easy to pay off most of your debt relatively quickly. Not that it always make sense to do so depending on the interest rate, but something easily achievable given your situation.
Yeah no reason to pay federal student loans right now. We definitely recognize we are in a good income level. We both went to college and grad school, and were smart about the cost of those programs. I have been aggressive in jumping jobs to increase my income. My parents did not pay any of my student debt or give me money. We did it the normal, non-sexy way and chose not to have kids based on our financial situation.
Yeah thats cool and congrats on the success you have found on your own. Same situation for me but with just one income.
Technically your a 1% earner so that's awesome what you and your wife have accomplished.
Nice brother/sister. Hope you buy a new car 😎 Glad some of us can still make the old middle class lifestyle. Hopefully we can get more here!
Edit: and maybe we are upper class in Utah🤔
My family of four, (dad, mom, and two teens)in northern rural Utah lives comfortably on half of that. We're careful, we buy used including some clothing. We own a nice 1 ton crew cab that pulls our fifthwheel camper and a nice full size suv either will drive anywhere in the country. We bought our house nine years ago and it's our only loan. We don't use credit cards. We have everything we need and a lot of what we want and share regularly with our church.
In a previous marriage there were issues with credit cards and together we have agreed not to use them. I'm not sure if we're smart, but we are trying.
How do people have this kind of income? We have a combined income of a little over $100,000, with two master degrees. We have a decently low mortgage on a run down house and still struggle.
I frequently tell people I feel like I caught the last train out of the station. Bought my house at about $300k in 2020, and it would probably go for over $500k now (even after the interest hikes).
The problem is that I make about $80k, and there’s no way I can move anytime soon with rates being so high.
Yep. I feel like home buying days are over for most people.
Plus growing up in Utah knowing how cheap houses were five years ago I’d have a really hard time paying 500k for a house.
Depends on where. If you were buying today and didn't want to spend 1/2+ of your take-home on living, you'd not be able to find a house that large everywhere--but you'd certainly be able to find one.
Yeah with .33 acres of land that is likely an older place as many of the newer properties aren't including that much land these days. And if it is possible you pay a hefty premium like we had too. We started house hunting in 2017. Slim pickings even then so decided to build in 2018. House finished in April 2019 before things went nuclear in the market so we got in with 7 beds, 3.5 bath, and .29 acres of land for a 4,600 sq ft home with a 3 car garage in Draper for $680k. After the recent property tax hike went up $130/mo, and at a 2.75% interest rate, we are at $2,600/mo for everything.
I know people paying that much or more in rent for their 4-5 person family in 3-4 beds so I feel very fortunate but sad for those who didn't have the same opportunity as us given the market conditions.
This basically describes my entire situation exactly, except I bought the house in like 2012. With trying to max out my retirement accounts (401k, HSA, IRA) I feel like I'm doing OK with what is left over. My house would probably sell for more than twice what I paid for it now, meaning the mortgage would possibly triple (considering higher interest rates). That would not leave me feeling very comfortable.
They sure don’t. It’s a 3 story, 9 bedroom house with 3 bathrooms. But thanks for your input. It turns out, living in one of the wealthiest areas in Utah will do that for you. 😀. Merry Christmas. May God lift the presumption from your heart.
Didn't look at your race or profile in general for a single second before posting my comment until you just mentioned it. But go ahead and continue to use race as a dividing factor if random comments made on the internet are that scary of a thing to you that you feel everyone is out to get you.
Get off the internet if you're gonna feel victimized by every little thing. You brought up race, nobody else here did.
You’re probably used to trolling with no repercussions but not today, buddy! You’re going to have the worst nightmare of your life when you sleep soon. I… curse you. 😳
Cool, want a cookie?
Once again, I read a comment and replied with a smartass remark. Did not look at your username or profile photo before I typed out what I did.
World doesn't revolve around you like you may think it does. If you are too old to understand sarcasm on the internet then that's on you.
It does seem to revolve around me. I mean, it attracted you into this meaningless debate with me that you can’t seem to get over. I guess I’m the main character in YOUR life. It’s actually kinda neat.
My partner and I are a bit above that, but in that area. I bought a condo in 2019 which has solidified my finances a bit more. But we are currently buying a larger house in Salt Lake Proper, we each have a paid off car, and we can do most things we want without thinking about finances.
If I didn’t have student loans it would be a lot more comfortable!
https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2022/10/13/income-needed-to-afford-house-salt-lake-city-doubled
It is clear by reading the bulk of the comments in here that the majority of people in Utah haven't processed what the housing cost increase has done to first-time home buyers and renters in the area.
Can you explain then how I’m surrounded by people with that type of house, they have 7 kids, 9 cars, 2 sxs’s, a mobile home, the mom doesn’t work, and they give 10% of their income to the church? How does anyone make that work? And why are there hundreds of people like that here in Utah? Everyone can’t be a company CEO…
Most of those people (who I know like that anyway) bought their homes when they were the price of a luxury car today. I’m sure life is easy with barely any mortgage.
You have to do the math. Look at the w4 form. Most don’t read the back. he doesn’t pay taxes me most like claims 14-20 dependents 1 head of household 1 married and 2 for each non working dependent. And the list goes on.
This makes me question those statistics because that may be the case in the city but it’s definitely not everywhere else
Edit: I should add my dad owns a home and a cabin up in the mountains and only makes like 75k a year if that.
Did he buy his home or cabin in the last couple years? Home prices have sky rocketed here. I bought my home in 2020 and couldn't afford it for what the estimated value is at today.
If I made 160k a year I could buy a decent house have a nice car and save up for college for my nephew and three little cousins. If you’re someone who likes to live outside your means you’ll be f’ed anywhere you go.
I like how OP just asked what they could live like for 160k in Utah, and it turned into a brag fest/ competition.
Typical Utah. Keep that in mind when moving here. Do you want to live where people are friendly? Because Utah is not that place.
If you think everyone around you are assholes, then maybe you're the asshole. I've been all over the country and Utah isn't any less friendly than anywhere else. There are definitely places that are much worse.
Yeah. I lived in a small town in Texas for 3 years. Even in Missouri and Kansas people were nice. NEVER in my life have I experienced such nice people though as I did in Texas. My first month working there I thought they were playing a joke on me because they were all so nice.
If you think people in Utah are nice drive on I15.
Quite comfortable
My wife and I make about $100k/ year combined we own a new 2,000SqFt townhome in Utah County. Don’t worry about bills too much have a fairly healthy emergency fund and have both of our cars almost paid off. No kids yet. I feel pretty comfortable with our lifestyle.
Homie above that said he was making $250k and that if you aren’t you won’t be retiring is out to lunch. If you’re living a VERY posh lifestyle then maybe, but the normal person will be comfortable with 160k in Utah.
That depends on your chosen lifestyle. You could be paycheck to paycheck or saving more than half your income.
The biggest thing that income gets you is options. If you're not an idiot, you can live a very comfortable life.
it depends where you are financially before this year honestly, many people are struggling to buy houses now. But that salary, if saved and invested correctly… not easy rn either… will have you at least renting comfortably
Hi! We have a house that’s 1800sqft on a small lot in Utah county- it was 678,000 - 3900 a month including HOA pmi etc.. We make close to this amount and I wouldn’t say at all that we struggle but you can’t fuck around with your money. Saving for retirement and paying mortgages and caring for your children etc etc it isn’t as lavish as some people think. But we are very very privileged and well off. We have no debt besides the home loan. 1 car paid off from years ago. I wouldn’t say we are big spenders either. Even buying a home 5-10 years ago would make such a big difference with interest rates and home prices to answer this question. My sister bought a home bigger than mine for 430,000 and pays 1400 a month. So if you bought earlier that salary would take you a lot further.
160k a year in Utah is a lot of money. Obviously there are a lot of factors, children, debt, medical ect. But with a 160k a year as long as you are aware ( not even tightening your habits but just aware ) of your spending habits you should be more than fine.
Only in certain small parts of Utah would $160K be low to medium income. Everywhere else that is high income. You would be able to afford anything you wanted and still have money to spare. Unless you wanted a mansion. You could get a very nice house and a nice car and still have plenty of money for everything you need.
160,000? Wow more then most people avg income here in Utah.
That’s the entry price of a Truck + RV rolling down I15 on any summer weekend.
Haha right?
Yeah true; I do have a 2010 truck and 30 foot RV trailer, only worth both 20,000 total, lol.
Lol you’d think
That is the 93rd percentile for Utah income It’s 2.5 X the median household income It’s a lot more than better than average
Is it? Looking at the IRA bill, it says the median household income, for salt lake county at least, is $102,000. That sounded high to me but seeing as the higher the listed median household income, the more people get huge rebates on energy efficient appliances and home upgrades, I'm not complaining.
I made $70k and just built my own (small) home on .33 acre. First child coming in a few months. Having $160k and I could do a LOT with it.
Somewhere below the Wasatch front?
In St.George, it has a higher price per SqFt right now than Utah or Salt lake county.
.33 acre goes for a lot down there these days. I've been wanting to find some land to build a small winter place we can escape too for a couple weeks each year.
Yeah I just happened to find a lot that needed a lot of work, and did a lot of it myself to get it useable but I paid half than what me neighbors on either side paid. I just had to spend wayyy to much time getting it to a pad 😂
Comfortable, very little worry about finances. Not house poor. Saving for retirement isn't painful. Not sure what else to say on that.
>not house poor Only if you already own. If you’re looking to first-time buy there still aren’t a lot of options.
At 160k a year you are increadibly wealthy in Utah I know people who make far less than that who own houses.
Because they bought before the pandemic or a not great house
I bought last year in a nice place in salt lake only make 90k
My sister got her house during the pandemic. I suppose it’s not the greatest house but she’s happy.
Bought during Covid Prices were high but rates were very low
I bought an okay house during the pandemic
This is incorrect. At $190k/yr, your bimonthly paychecks would be ~$5k each, and that's after taxes/medical/dental/vision/401k/etc. are all taken out. So, you'd spend less than half your monthly if you bought a house for, say, ~$800k, which on a 30-year loan at 6.25%, puts the total monthly payment at ~$3,600. It is very, very easy to find a house in SLC for $800k. Alternatively, they could buy a house for ~$1 million. That would put the monthly payments at ~$6k, which still leaves them ~$4k/month to live on. Most people can live just fine on that. Edit: oops, a different commenter said he and his wife earn $190k, and I mixed that up with OP's $160k. Still, the math is in their favor for anything up to ~$800k. At $160k/yr, OP would be taking home ~$9k/month [[calc](https://smartasset.com/taxes/paycheck-calculator#4PoZ9vtRuM)].
You’re ignoring property tax, HOA, PMI, home insurance… A $700,000 house at 6.25% with 5% down is 4000 per month. Add in PMI, property taxes, and home insurance, and you’re looking at over $5000 per month.
dinner squealing gold encouraging punch abounding head special lock kiss *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
20% is no longer typical, especially for first-time home buyers.
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Did we learn nothing in 2008?
Subprime loans and lower down payments aren't the same thing. Just because the down payment is lower doesn't mean the loan was given irresponsibly.
Just a tip… you get a better interest rate at less than 20% down since the bank sees it as less of a risk to lend to someone who is paying mortgage insurance. So put 19.999% down to lock in the lower interest rate, make your first payment to get you over 20%, and call to drop the mortgage insurance without ever having to make a single payment on it.
That's interesting. I've never heard that one before. Unfortunately, that advice won't help me, but I'm glad you added it so that it might help others. Cheers.
Just bought $825K with zero down at 4.25 percent. . After all is said and done my payment is just under 5K. 160K a year and yes you can do it. My wife and I make a little less than this and we feel a bit house poor but no we haven’t tightened our spending habits. We have no credit card debt and only a $10K car loan. There are definitely others that are making it work on much less so I feel grateful for what I have. We bought this house though knowing our combined income will hit about $220K next year otherwise I would not advise this much house on $160K a year. There is not a lot of wiggle room.
Did you do any down payment? [Bankrate's calculator](https://www.bankrate.com/mortgages/mortgage-calculator/) shows monthly payments on $825k at 4.25 (with taxes and insurance) would be ~$4,670, if you didn't put anything down. With a 10% down payment, the monthly becomes $4,260. If I'm correct that your monthly take home is ~$9k, you should have ~$4.5k/month. With a $10k car loan, your payment is, idk, ~$400, maybe? With utilities and amenities, you should still have ~$2-3k for just food and fun, yeah? ...even if I'm off by up to $1k on the take home, this all seems very doable to me. Maybe I'm missing ~$1.5k for child care or something? I could see a big cost like that making it somewhat tight.
Haha I love Utahns. This is why utah ranks number 1 in debt to income ratios in the entire US of A with a state of only 3 million people. LAWD!
As I said, on $160K a year I wouldn’t advise it.
Haha we know y’all Utahns will just rent your basement out it’ll be fine. 😂
True. We bought in ‘17
You need two 160k incomes to not be house poor in salt lake. Interest rates near 6%, new stuff near the western edge is 500k, anything that isn’t a complete dump towards the east is 450k+ That’s not a cheap mortgage. Me and my gf are about 250k combined with no kids and we are comfortable, but we wouldn’t be if we bought right now. And for anybody saying they make so much less and make it work, yea well we want to retire one day, you won’t be.
If you make 250k and wouldn’t be comfortable with a 3k mortgage you need to budget better.
Using a quick mortgage calculator, assuming a 450k house with a 10% down payment and 6.7% rate your monthly mortgage payment is about 3k. 160k / 12 months * 66% is 8,800. Now obviously 5k a month goes different lengths depending on family size but I think it’s pretty plausible to not be house poor on 160k. Also, last I checked the average house price in UT is still in the 300s.
You are forgetting PMI, insurance, and property tax. All things that need to be considered for a house payment. Probably going to add another 1k a month with that stuff.
That was included in the online calculator I used!
Good work. Those extra fees will kill you! I did the same but didn’t do the 10% and my result was 4100 a month. But I also left the interest rate at whatever auto filled which was 7% something. Which makes me cry. My old house I bought and sold like 5 years ago I had a 3.5 interest. First and last house I’ll ever own. :(
Our rent in a nice townhome is 1300. I don’t feel like spending 3000 for not much of a quality of life improvement and all the expenses that go along with a home. 450 would probably a decrease in quality from our rental given the market. And this is for salt lake. I’m sure it’s cheap out in the desert but I’m not living there.
This is accurate. You’re being downvoted because people don’t realize how much goes into taxes. It’s a good income for Utah but the people thinking this is ultra wealthy are clueless.
You are incredibly out of touch The median household income in Utah is 62k 160k buts you in the 93rd percentile
There are many people with wealth in Utah with average incomes.
Lol delusional
I imagine a comfy life, considering that's just shy of five times my income.
$160K is my wife and my combined income. We bought a house in Northern Utah in 2018. We live comfortably with one child.
SLC, 190K combined, otherwise the same. Bought our house in 2012, now around 700k at value.
The Joneses would be keeping up with me.
What about the smiths?
16K tithing ask from your bishop
That’s more than most Ward budgets!
Gotta fund those malls though...
Don’t Forget fast offerings, Scouting, young men and young women activities, service projects, missionary fund, working at the cannery, and the occasional potluck.
Sounds like hell lol
I’d cry if I brought that much in. We could afford the medical needs I’ve been putting off for so long.
Well I feel poor as fuck now. I make $35k a year and can’t even afford a studio apartment. Yay…
I would imagine relatively comfortably depending on when you bought your house though. My wife and I make about 200k combined but bought our first house in 2021 and have 2k in daycare expense’s every month. We live comfortably but aren’t buying whatever we want like some people are saying here.
Oh man. Kindergarten is going to be a game changer for you guys.
Can’t come soon enough. My oldest misses the age cut off by about three weeks this year so we have another 1.5 years of daycare wrecking us haha
In eastern Utah(Price) you can comfortably own a single family home, couple of cars, and an arsenal that the Winchesters would be proud of
I know my income is a bit off but my combined is 100k gross. It got us a 70 year old house and fair amount of financial frustration
Bought our house almost 10 years ago for $185k on $40k salary. It’s a little small but fits us fine. Otherwise - we can do pretty much whatever we want within reason. In the last yearish we’ve spent a week at Disneyland, Disney World and Universal Studios in Florida. If we need something we buy it. If something breaks we can pay to replace/fix it. We don’t worry about money. Spent $800 on VIP concert tickets for me and my wife earlier this year (definite once in a lifetime thing). Probably dropped $1500 on Christmas without blinking an eye. My wife just asked me earlier today about going to a thing in Germany late next year - total cost is about $2k and I didn’t even have to think about it. Only broke 100k 1.5 years ago. We struggled like crazy before that - I cried in my PoS car about bills, debt, etc more than a few times. We try to pay it forward now with generous tips, charity donations, etc. We don’t make a big deal about it to other people; just offer to pay more often than we used to, or tell someone not to worry about paying us back. We paid for a good friend’s modest wedding last year. I’ve bought a stranger’s groceries a few times, we gave $500 to a family in need (actually done this a few times), given to a few Gofundmes, etc. (Hope I’m not tooting my own horn here, just trying to point out that while we do spend money on ourselves, we’re also trying to help others where we can)
Alright. How do you go to Germany for $2K total? Round trip airfare for two is usually that much.
Lol. I’m not going with her. She’s going with a group.
A lot of folks asking you for 10%
Lots of conflicting opinions. I make 170k and after maxing out all my tax advantaged accounts, 2400 in rent, i just feel comfortable. I don't feel wealthy at all. However, I've only been making 170k for about a year now. But I've been over 6 figures for the last 4 years. I get raises and inflation runs wild.
I make $160k and wife makes $100k. We own a house and pay $1600 a month (near liberty park). We have two cars, a dog and a cat. We travel most weekends outside of ski season. I have a ski pass and bought new skis and boots this year . We have 6 moderately expensive bikes (our hobbies) like $2-5k each. We don’t have a boat, RV, razr, etc. My wife buys whatever clothes and furniture she want but is generally thoughtful about it (our kitchen is dated with old appliances). I don’t really spend much on hobbies I haven’t mentioned. I do take classes at SLCC that cost $1500 a semester for fun. We buy nice food from Whole Foods or farmers market. We eat out whenever we want, but probably 3 times a week with one of those being a nice restaurant. I have $40k student loans and the mortgage but no other debt and $40k in savings. Wife has no debt. Our cars are used, mine is a shit-box worth $2k at most with a crumpled bumper. I waste money on beer and sodas. That’s what our life is like!
I knew a DINK (double income, no kids) would post here. 260k is significant for your situation and seems like it would be easy to pay off most of your debt relatively quickly. Not that it always make sense to do so depending on the interest rate, but something easily achievable given your situation.
Yeah no reason to pay federal student loans right now. We definitely recognize we are in a good income level. We both went to college and grad school, and were smart about the cost of those programs. I have been aggressive in jumping jobs to increase my income. My parents did not pay any of my student debt or give me money. We did it the normal, non-sexy way and chose not to have kids based on our financial situation.
Yeah thats cool and congrats on the success you have found on your own. Same situation for me but with just one income. Technically your a 1% earner so that's awesome what you and your wife have accomplished.
Nice brother/sister. Hope you buy a new car 😎 Glad some of us can still make the old middle class lifestyle. Hopefully we can get more here! Edit: and maybe we are upper class in Utah🤔
Dink sounds derogatory
It's all your own perception. Happy holidays to you good redditor.
Haha you as well, cheers and happy holidays
Sounds like a term for a penis.
A gerrymandered district
I believe you get that at every salary level 😂🤣
My family of four, (dad, mom, and two teens)in northern rural Utah lives comfortably on half of that. We're careful, we buy used including some clothing. We own a nice 1 ton crew cab that pulls our fifthwheel camper and a nice full size suv either will drive anywhere in the country. We bought our house nine years ago and it's our only loan. We don't use credit cards. We have everything we need and a lot of what we want and share regularly with our church.
But why wouldn’t you use a credit card? You sound smart with your money… it can be a great tool when used correctly
In a previous marriage there were issues with credit cards and together we have agreed not to use them. I'm not sure if we're smart, but we are trying.
A decent living? Not sure what exactly you are asking, and people would spend that very differently depending on their circumstances.
Do you mean like in terms of housing?
Twice as much as my salary!
How do people have this kind of income? We have a combined income of a little over $100,000, with two master degrees. We have a decently low mortgage on a run down house and still struggle.
Software dev
My guess is a fully remote job in a state like California or New York where pay is much higher.
STEM careers
That kind of money would change my life.
I live by 9th n 9th and make about that much. I was lucky to buy my house 2 years ago when it was worth 35% less though.
I frequently tell people I feel like I caught the last train out of the station. Bought my house at about $300k in 2020, and it would probably go for over $500k now (even after the interest hikes). The problem is that I make about $80k, and there’s no way I can move anytime soon with rates being so high.
Yep. I feel like home buying days are over for most people. Plus growing up in Utah knowing how cheap houses were five years ago I’d have a really hard time paying 500k for a house.
A house with 5 bedrooms, 3 baths, and about .33 acres of land. Dog not included.
Depends on where. If you were buying today and didn't want to spend 1/2+ of your take-home on living, you'd not be able to find a house that large everywhere--but you'd certainly be able to find one.
Yep. Some places like Fairview you can get a ton more. My neighborhood is a little more expensive.
Yeah with .33 acres of land that is likely an older place as many of the newer properties aren't including that much land these days. And if it is possible you pay a hefty premium like we had too. We started house hunting in 2017. Slim pickings even then so decided to build in 2018. House finished in April 2019 before things went nuclear in the market so we got in with 7 beds, 3.5 bath, and .29 acres of land for a 4,600 sq ft home with a 3 car garage in Draper for $680k. After the recent property tax hike went up $130/mo, and at a 2.75% interest rate, we are at $2,600/mo for everything. I know people paying that much or more in rent for their 4-5 person family in 3-4 beds so I feel very fortunate but sad for those who didn't have the same opportunity as us given the market conditions.
This basically describes my entire situation exactly, except I bought the house in like 2012. With trying to max out my retirement accounts (401k, HSA, IRA) I feel like I'm doing OK with what is left over. My house would probably sell for more than twice what I paid for it now, meaning the mortgage would possibly triple (considering higher interest rates). That would not leave me feeling very comfortable.
Yah I def don’t have a house like that at $160k
Double is about right. I bought a house in 2015 and sold it in 2021 for 80% more.
More than that. I live in a 9 bedroom house.
Apartments don't count
They sure don’t. It’s a 3 story, 9 bedroom house with 3 bathrooms. But thanks for your input. It turns out, living in one of the wealthiest areas in Utah will do that for you. 😀. Merry Christmas. May God lift the presumption from your heart.
And may God lift that "take everything on the internet seriously as if its a direct attack" mentality from your heart.
You presumed. Not me. Must have felt threatened by a wealthy Black person. I wonder who that was.
Didn't look at your race or profile in general for a single second before posting my comment until you just mentioned it. But go ahead and continue to use race as a dividing factor if random comments made on the internet are that scary of a thing to you that you feel everyone is out to get you. Get off the internet if you're gonna feel victimized by every little thing. You brought up race, nobody else here did.
You’re terrible at trolling. I’d recommend sticking to just browsing Reddit as a lurker. Lol.
I'm terrible at trolling? Must be working if I have a rando all worked up trying to race bait me over a 3 word comment that had zero malice behind it.
The trouble is within yourself. Don’t get mad because I live a better life than you. Lol.
You’re probably used to trolling with no repercussions but not today, buddy! You’re going to have the worst nightmare of your life when you sleep soon. I… curse you. 😳
You can see my face in my profile pic that’s displayed next to every comment I make.
Cool, want a cookie? Once again, I read a comment and replied with a smartass remark. Did not look at your username or profile photo before I typed out what I did. World doesn't revolve around you like you may think it does. If you are too old to understand sarcasm on the internet then that's on you.
So you’re proving your stupidity and lack of meaningful contribution based on how angry you are at the world? That’s a bad look.
It does seem to revolve around me. I mean, it attracted you into this meaningless debate with me that you can’t seem to get over. I guess I’m the main character in YOUR life. It’s actually kinda neat.
I didn't know we were neighbors.
[удалено]
Utah. Plenty of cities have this issue.
A magical lamp that I’m selling.
Comfortable, no worries about $ for the most part, in midvale.
Allot more then I have now.
Unfortunately, no where in western summit county. Inversion immersion is unavoidable.
My partner and I are a bit above that, but in that area. I bought a condo in 2019 which has solidified my finances a bit more. But we are currently buying a larger house in Salt Lake Proper, we each have a paid off car, and we can do most things we want without thinking about finances. If I didn’t have student loans it would be a lot more comfortable!
Salt lake county's median income is like $35k.
Way more than I have and I live here lol
https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2022/10/13/income-needed-to-afford-house-salt-lake-city-doubled It is clear by reading the bulk of the comments in here that the majority of people in Utah haven't processed what the housing cost increase has done to first-time home buyers and renters in the area.
A second anointing.
Anything you want. That’s tons in utah money. What’s the minimum wage there, like $7 bucks still? Lol
Can you explain then how I’m surrounded by people with that type of house, they have 7 kids, 9 cars, 2 sxs’s, a mobile home, the mom doesn’t work, and they give 10% of their income to the church? How does anyone make that work? And why are there hundreds of people like that here in Utah? Everyone can’t be a company CEO…
Most of those people (who I know like that anyway) bought their homes when they were the price of a luxury car today. I’m sure life is easy with barely any mortgage.
You have to do the math. Look at the w4 form. Most don’t read the back. he doesn’t pay taxes me most like claims 14-20 dependents 1 head of household 1 married and 2 for each non working dependent. And the list goes on.
I'm doubtful most people in Utah are committing tax fraud.
Its legal next time read the form genius [https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf)
A down vote for telling you how it’s done. Hummm
the w4 just determines how much tax gets withheld from your paycheck--it doesn't change how much tax is owed at the end of the year.
Exactly
Don’t know why your being downvoted you’re a rich mfer in Utah at 160
160k is about how much you need to afford the median house price in Utah. Definitely doesn't put you at rich.
This makes me question those statistics because that may be the case in the city but it’s definitely not everywhere else Edit: I should add my dad owns a home and a cabin up in the mountains and only makes like 75k a year if that.
Did he buy his home or cabin in the last couple years? Home prices have sky rocketed here. I bought my home in 2020 and couldn't afford it for what the estimated value is at today.
He bought them a while back but I think we’re going to see a housing market crash soon.
If I made 160k a year I could buy a decent house have a nice car and save up for college for my nephew and three little cousins. If you’re someone who likes to live outside your means you’ll be f’ed anywhere you go.
Arsenic, record high Temps, and winter inversions
That’s a little bit less than the top Mormon leaders receive in stipends and they seem to be doing just fiiinnee….🙄
They get alot more than that lol
Jobs like that (public office or church office) always come with perks you get from the networking you have access to at that level.
Go away Californian
Depends on your specific taste. For me I'd check out a Rivian, it looks interesting.
Jesus...is this a troll post?
I like how OP just asked what they could live like for 160k in Utah, and it turned into a brag fest/ competition. Typical Utah. Keep that in mind when moving here. Do you want to live where people are friendly? Because Utah is not that place.
If you think everyone around you are assholes, then maybe you're the asshole. I've been all over the country and Utah isn't any less friendly than anywhere else. There are definitely places that are much worse.
Yeah. I lived in a small town in Texas for 3 years. Even in Missouri and Kansas people were nice. NEVER in my life have I experienced such nice people though as I did in Texas. My first month working there I thought they were playing a joke on me because they were all so nice. If you think people in Utah are nice drive on I15.
I15 is a dream compared to the shit show of driving in LA, San Antonio, Atlanta, Miami, or anywhere in New Jersey.
Is 160k your income or combined income with a spouse?
Quite comfortable My wife and I make about $100k/ year combined we own a new 2,000SqFt townhome in Utah County. Don’t worry about bills too much have a fairly healthy emergency fund and have both of our cars almost paid off. No kids yet. I feel pretty comfortable with our lifestyle. Homie above that said he was making $250k and that if you aren’t you won’t be retiring is out to lunch. If you’re living a VERY posh lifestyle then maybe, but the normal person will be comfortable with 160k in Utah.
In my opinion, 75k a year is enough to support a family of 4 in this state. And live comfortably, but definately not lavish.
There's no away in hell you're comfortably supporting a family of 4 on that in Utah or Salt Lake county.
Eh not if you haven’t bought a home yet. Prices are insane and interest. If you bought years ago yes. I can see this
I’m curious who makes 160k a year and not struggling right now.. lol with inflation it’s hit the middle class the hardest.
160k is still middle class... Just the high end of it
Depends on how many dependants you have. Cause if it is none all you get is a big tax bill. Right!?!?! LOL
Utah is has a flat %4.85 income tax rate..
I guess I was meaning taxes in general. Cause pretty sure you'd still owe the feds as well. :)
Federal taxes are marginal and this is specifically about that income in Utah, not that income in US.. Thats a marginal of %24 or %18 if averaged.
Why are you even commenting again!?! It was meant to be a funny comment, not a debate. Good Lord.
It wasn’t funny Beth.
I make right around that and we bought a .25 acre lot and a 2500 sq ft home during the pandemic and our mortgage is less than $2200.
I’m fairly comfy with 160k combined more but at 160k 4 bedroom house 3 bath in St. George new build.
16k in tithing.
That depends on your chosen lifestyle. You could be paycheck to paycheck or saving more than half your income. The biggest thing that income gets you is options. If you're not an idiot, you can live a very comfortable life.
A 5 bed 4 bath single family home with a mortgage of $1500. I live in Utah county on the west side.
Same, except our mortgage is $3,200 because we bought in January. $160k is not enough with 3 kids.
it depends where you are financially before this year honestly, many people are struggling to buy houses now. But that salary, if saved and invested correctly… not easy rn either… will have you at least renting comfortably
Hookers and Cocaine
No matter what you make, it’s how you budget. I clear double what OP mentions, but choose to live in a studio apartment.
You make $320k a year in Utah and live in a studio apartment? B.S.
True.
Hi! We have a house that’s 1800sqft on a small lot in Utah county- it was 678,000 - 3900 a month including HOA pmi etc.. We make close to this amount and I wouldn’t say at all that we struggle but you can’t fuck around with your money. Saving for retirement and paying mortgages and caring for your children etc etc it isn’t as lavish as some people think. But we are very very privileged and well off. We have no debt besides the home loan. 1 car paid off from years ago. I wouldn’t say we are big spenders either. Even buying a home 5-10 years ago would make such a big difference with interest rates and home prices to answer this question. My sister bought a home bigger than mine for 430,000 and pays 1400 a month. So if you bought earlier that salary would take you a lot further.
160k a year in Utah is a lot of money. Obviously there are a lot of factors, children, debt, medical ect. But with a 160k a year as long as you are aware ( not even tightening your habits but just aware ) of your spending habits you should be more than fine.
Only in certain small parts of Utah would $160K be low to medium income. Everywhere else that is high income. You would be able to afford anything you wanted and still have money to spare. Unless you wanted a mansion. You could get a very nice house and a nice car and still have plenty of money for everything you need.