MYNORTHWEST NEWS

How much money do you need to be wealthy in Seattle?

Feb 2, 2019, 6:42 AM | Updated: 6:47 am

Wealth can often be relative depending on where you live in the United States. A $500,000 house looks a whole lot different in a city like Detroit than it does in Seattle, where your dollar won’t take you nearly as far.

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Where exactly does Seattle rank, though? A recent list from SmartAdvisor found that out, ranking on a scale based on income needed to be in the top 20 percent of households

Of the top 10 incomes in cities needed to be considered wealthy, Seattle ranked 8th. You would need to earn at least $172,235 to qualify. Ranking just ahead of the Emerald City was Scottsdale at $179,461. Unsurprisingly, San Francisco topped the list at $231,347.

“Even the wealthiest in Seattle have to make some tough decisions about their finances,” the list laid out. “Homes here are expensive: Census Bureau pegs the median home value in Seattle at more than $673,000. On the plus side, though, being rich in Seattle means access to some of the best coffee and beer in the country.”

As home to the likes of super-billionaires Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, the city’s upper echelon of wealth is clearly one that’s tough to crack.

SmartAdvisor also ranked the cities requiring the least income to be wealthy, topped by Detroit at $61,768, following by Cleveland at $64,188.

You can read the full list here.

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How much money do you need to be wealthy in Seattle?