Colorado Self-Sufficiency Calculator -- also true for DC area?

[Anonymous]

just read this off of Momsrising blog

http://www.momsrising.org/node/1223

"High Cost of Living Makes Financial Crisis Bigger than Reported

Ever wondered why it seems so hard to make ends meet? The Colorado Self-Sufficiency Calculator allows anyone to type in family size and configuration to determine the minimum amount of annual income required to meet a household’s basic needs. Visit the calculator and you’ll find some staggering and terrifying numbers.

Here in Denver, Colorado a single parent with one school-aged and one preschool-aged child needs a minimum of $40,740 a year just to meet the family’s basic needs! A married couple with one toddler and one preschooler require an income of $50,496 a year! And these households will need a higher income if their housing will cost them more than $728 per month and if transportation runs more than $100-200 per month.

I was shocked when I discovered how expensive basic needs are these days. To put these numbers into perspective, $40,740 per year for a single parent is approximately $20 per hour. This is a wage unobtainable by so many and it’s fully three times the current minimum wage!

These self-sufficiency figures don’t include a family vacation or any savings. They don’t include out-of-pocket medical expenses, unpaid maternity leaves, or unpaid absences from work. They don’t include realistic transportation costs for those living in areas where public transportation isn’t readily available. They also don’t include the inevitable debt payments that arise when the unexpected does happen and there isn’t enough money to go around. I wonder what the numbers would be if we factored in these very common family expenses.

(more at link)"


link to calculator here: http://www.coloradoselfsufficiencystandardcalculator.org/ColoradoCalculator/Home.aspx


Do you think the results of this calculator would be similar here in the DC area? Greater or less than in Denver CO?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Based on this online cost of living calculator, DC would require about 30% more income for the same standard of living; the cost of housing is the biggest driver of this.

http://www.bestplaces.net/col/?salary=50000&city1=51150000&city2=50820000

There is probably some variation in this depending on how exactly you estimate cost of living differences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Based on this online cost of living calculator, DC would require about 30% more income for the same standard of living; the cost of housing is the biggest driver of this.

http://www.bestplaces.net/col/?salary=50000&city1=51150000&city2=50820000

There is probably some variation in this depending on how exactly you estimate cost of living differences.

Thank you! Good point about the cost of housing.