Household Budget: What A Family Needs To Get By In Michigan

DETROIT, MI – People in Michigan know this: It's an affordable place to live and raise a family. According to one economic think tank, the cost of living in Metro Detroit, as well as most other metropolitan areas in Michigan, is far more affordable than east and west coast cities. And, it's certainly not Brownsville, Texas, either.

Families with two adults and two children in the Detroit-Livonia-Warren metro need an annual income of $79,308 – or $6,609 per month – to live comfortably, according to the Economic Policy Institute. The data was included in the organization's recently released 2018 family budget calculator that estimates how costly it is to live in each of America’s 3,142 counties and 611 metro areas.

Here’s how the group breaks down that number:

• Housing: $940 per month
• Food: $739 per month
• Child Care: $1,430 per month
• Transportation: $1,141 per month
• Other Necessities: $677 per month
• Taxes: $806 per month

Compared to the Ann Arbor area, that might seem like a bargain. In the Ann Arbor metro area, that family of four would need a combined income of $89,186 per year – or $7,432 every month, to “attain a modest yet adequate standard of living,” the organization said.

And, if you're wondering, here what's needed for the family of four in other metro markets across Michigan:

• Grand Rapids/Wyoming: $77,898 annually, or $6,491 per month
• Lansing/East Lansing: $77,805 annually, or $6,484 per month
• Kalamazoo/Portage: $77,604 annually, or $6,467 per month
• Muskegon: $74,069 annually, or $6,172 per month
• Holland/Grand Haven: $79,879 annually, or $6,657 per month
• Niles/Benton Harbor: $76,822 annually, or $6,402 per month
• Saginaw: $73,299 annually, or $6,108 per month
• Flint: $73,891 annually, or $6,158 per month
• Bay City: $74,639 annually, or $6,220 per month
• Battle Creek: $74,500 annually, or $6,208 per month

The family budget calculator accounts for geographic differences in cost of living, but does not include many expenses associated with a middle-class lifestyle, including student loan payments or saving for college or retirement.

“Our Family Budget Calculator goes beyond traditional measures like the poverty line to paint a detailed picture of what families need to get by,” said EPI Senior Economist Elise Gould said in a statement. “The latest update provides even greater detail on how costs vary throughout the country. It is above all else a tool for policymakers to advocate for ways to raise wages and make their communities more affordable.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, San Francisco ranked first in the nation as the most expensive metro area with a basic budget of $148,439 a year for a two-parent, two-child household. On the flipside, that same household would only need to earn $58,906 to live comfortably in Brownsville, Texas, the least expensive metro area in the country.

The group noted that many low-wage workers don’t make enough money to adequately provide for their family’s basic needs. Even after adjusting for higher state and city minimum wages, the group said, there is “nowhere in the country” where a minimum-wage worker would earns enough.

“It’s clear from our analysis that, even in less-expensive areas, many families will struggle to meet their basic needs,” said research assistant Zane Mokhiber. “The good news is we have many different ways to remedy this, from a higher minimum wage to ambitious child care reform. Policymakers should draw on a range of tools to help people meet the needs laid out in the Family Budget Calculator.”

Click here to go to to the calculator. You can change the number of adults and children to see exactly what your household needs to earn to live comfortably in your county.

Patch reporter Dan Hampton contributed to this report/Photo credit: David McNew/Getty Images