(KRON) — You can earn $100,000 a year and still be considered low-income in the Bay Area, according to a new report released by the California Department of Housing and Community.
In San Francisco County, for example, if a single person earns $104,400 or less, they are considered low income. The numbers are the same in Marin and San Mateo counties, which are both known for extremely high living costs.
Let’s break down how far that $104,400 annual salary goes in San Francisco. A person in that tax bracket pays 30.5% of their salary towards taxes. Therefore, the net pay for a $104,400 salary would be roughly $72,568 per year.
The average cost to rent a one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco is $3,000. A single person earning $104,400 per year would have to spend at least $36,000 per year on housing, which equates to over 34% of their income (and over 49% of their take-home pay).
When taking in those high costs, it’s easy to see why those large paychecks don’t stretch quite as far in the Bay Area.
Low-Income Limits in Bay Area Counties
The report lays out what the state defines as low-income in various counties, and is used as a tool to determine income limits for designated state-level programs. The report pulls data from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, which was released in May.
The income limits are raised for each added member of a household–regardless if that person is contributing funds to the household or not, as in the case of children. The salaries that are defined as “low-income” in the report are startlingly high.
| County | 1 person/household | 2 persons/household | 3 persons/household |
| Alameda | 78,550 | 89,750 | 100,950 |
| Contra Costa | 78,550 | 89,750 | 100,950 |
| Marin | 104,400 | 119,300 | 134,200 |
| Napa | 74,700 | 85,400 | 96,050 |
| San Francisco | 104,400 | 119,300 | 134,200 |
| San Mateo | 104,400 | 119,300 | 134,200 |
| Santa Clara | 96,000 | 109,700 | 123,400 |
| Solano | 64,050 | 73,200 | 82,350 |
| Sonoma | 70,500 | 80,550 | 90,600 |
Across the rest of the Golden State, the median income level sits a bit lower. However, a few Southern California Counties have median incomes over $100,000 that are comparable to the Bay Area including Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, San Diego, and Orange. The low-income limit in those counties ranges from $64,900 to $82,950.
El Dorado, San Joaquin, San Benito, Yolo, Santa Cruz, Monterey, Sacramento, Placer, Nevada, Amador and Alpine counties also have median incomes over $100,000. However, the low-income measurements in these counties sits much lower, often in the $50,000-$60,000 range. Santa Cruz and Monterey counties are an exception; low-income in Santa Cruz is any single-person household that brings in less than $92,500 per year, and in Monterey, the limit is $67,450.
