$136K Minimum To Live ‘Comfortably’ In NYC, New Study Finds

NEW YORK CITY — Want to live "comfortably" in New York City? That'll require you make at least $136,000 a year.

Or at least that's according to a new Consumer Affairs study about the 15 largest U.S. cities' affordability.

"It'll come as no surprise that the Big Apple tops our list of major cities that take an outsized bite out of consumers' budgets," the study states.

Here's what the study found New Yorkers or would-be city dwellers have to make to live comfortably in Gotham:

• Income needed: $135,713
• Hourly wage needed: $65.25
• Median rent per month: $3,392.83

So, how did Consumer Affairs come to these thoroughly depressing numbers?

The answer comes down to a combination of rent and federal Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, guidelines for affordability.

Affordability for HUD means spending no more than 30 percent of income on rent or mortgage payment.

And when New York City's typical monthly rent is measured at nearly $3,400 by Zillow, the affordability math comes out to roughly $136,000 a year in income.

New York City may have topped the list, but other cities did come close.

Boston required nearly as much income — $134,000 — to live comfortably, according to the study.

Here are the other cities that require $100,000-plus salaries:

Read the full study and see where other large U.S. cities rank here.