Pay Attention: 8 Best States To Move to If You Don’t Want To Pay Taxes on Social Security 3. The study found that due to roughly 41% in combined federal, state and local taxes and a cost of living that is 83.6% higher than the national average, workers in New York City need to earn a pre-tax salary of $312,000 to have a purchasing power equivalent to $100,000 in the average American city. New York is the city that never sleeps, and you may have to be regularly burning the midnight oil to earn enough to get the feel of a six-figure salary. After taxes, the net pay with that salary is $185,999, and living costs are 86% above the national average.

High taxes and high living costs mean that workers in Honolulu, Hawaii, will need to earn a salary of $312,400 pre-tax to feel like they are earning $100,00.

A recent SmartAsset study analyzed annual salaries in 76 cities and adjusted them for taxes and cost of living to find what you would need to earn to have the purchasing power of a $100,000 salary in the average city - and in these three cities, you would need to earn $300,000 or more.

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