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An ‘common’ American revenue might now not lower it

Daily SF News — Wed, 21 Jun 2023 23:34:31 +0000

(The Hill) – According to two recent reports, average American income is not enough to live comfortably in 2023.

According to the census, a typical US family makes about $71,000 a year. However, according to a recent Gallup poll, the average American believes a family needs at least $85,000 in annual household income to make ends meet.

This finding aligns with a recent study by SmartAsset, a financial technology company, which found that the average American worker needs an after-tax income of $68,499 to live comfortably. (That equates to about $85,000 in total income, assuming a 20 percent tax burden.)

The two publications point to the same conclusion: in 2023, many Americans will be underearned to maintain a decent standard of living in their communities.

American households are feeling the effects of the crisis after three years of unrelenting economic headwinds.

Inflation, a negligible factor in recent years, rose to 5 percent in 2021 and 8 percent in 2022. According to federal data for the first quarters of 2022 and 2023, it is now 6 percent.

Rising prices prompted an unprecedented series of rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, raising the federal funds rate from effectively zero to around 5 percent in just over a year.

All of this happened amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which pushed the country’s unemployment rate to nearly 15 percent at the height of the nationwide lockdown in 2020.

“We’re just emerging from this really unusual period where we’ve had pandemic-related shortages and job losses. And I think it’s kind of a distorted perception of the cost of living,” said Peter C. Earle, an economist at the American Institute for Economic Research. “Lockdowns have been a kind of existential experience for a lot of people.”

The Gallup poll, conducted in April, found that 30 percent of Americans believe a family needs a six-figure income to “get by in their community.” Only 14 percent of respondents said a household could survive on less than $50,000, and even that is $20,000 above the state poverty line for a family of $30,000 for a family of four.

“I think the real crux of this problem is: what does it mean to get by with and without quotes?” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, an economist and president of the American Action Forum, a conservative think tank.

Lower-income families earning less than $40,000 a year told Gallup pollsters that, on average, a household needs $66,310 a year to make ends meet. Higher-income households earning $100,000 or more said anything less than $100,000 would suffice.

“There’s a lot of other data that says people with relatively high incomes are living paycheck to paycheck,” Holtz-Eakin said.

Ten years ago, in a previous Gallup poll, the average American believed a household could get by on $58,000 a year. That figure exceeded the median household income of $52,250 at the time.

The gap between what Americans earn and what they consider sufficient income seems to be widening. The 2013 Gallup figure was $58,000, about 10 percent above the median household income for that year. The Gallup value for 2023 is $85,000, which is about 20 percent higher than the current average income.

A lot has changed in a decade. In 2023, the average American family can reasonably expect the price of groceries and gas to rise at 5 to 10 percent per year forever. The average homeowner might expect mortgage rates to remain in the 5 to 7 percent range for the foreseeable future after a decade of historically low interest rates.

Therefore, according to economists, American families have good reason to raise their expectations of what it takes to live comfortably.

Salaries have not kept pace with inflation. Rising interest rates have pushed up housing costs. The SmartAsset report found that between 2022 and 2023, the average income for maintaining a “comfortable lifestyle” rose 20 percent in the 25 largest metropolitan areas, from $57,013 to $68,499 in net income.

Based on MIT’s Living Wage Calculator, this report assumes that an average family spends half of its after-tax income on living expenses, 30 percent on discretionary spending, and 20 percent on savings and debt.

Using this formula, a resident of San Francisco would need to raise $84,000 a year to live comfortably, $78,500 in New York and $76,000 in Washington, DC, the study said.

Looking at the real salaries in these cities, it seems that many residents do not live comfortably. According to the census, the median per capita income is about $124,000 in San Francisco, $85,000 in New York, and $81,000 in DC. These are pre-tax figures: the net wages are significantly lower.

A key factor behind the rising cost of living is the rising cost of housing. Monthly rents exceeded inflation. According to Redfin, the average monthly asking rent surpassed $2,000 for the first time last spring.

Meanwhile, federal data showed house prices rose more than 40 percent in two years, from an average of $383,000 in early 2020 to $553,000 by the end of 2022. That year, the figure fell to $516,500 as higher mortgage rates sapped purchasing power .

Cars are also becoming luxury goods. According to the Kelley Blue Book, the median price for a new vehicle at the end of 2022 was $49,500, up from $38,948 three years earlier.

Vehicle prices rose in part due to supply chain bottlenecks and pandemic-related shutdowns. Another factor was the discerning American consumer. Buyers drove up prices, consistently opting for more expensive SUVs and polished trucks over budget sedans.

“There’s a lot of debate about the extent to which our expectations fuel inflation,” said Lisa Gennetian, applied economist at Duke University.

Homebuyers are always looking for bigger homes. According to an analysis by the American Enterprise Institute, the average new home grew by 1,000 square feet between the mid-1970s and mid-2010s.

The same principle applies to other areas of family life, Gennetian said. An affluent household might consider a private school part of its basic annual budget, while a less affluent household might struggle to meet fall supplies at a public school.

“For some people, tutoring my kids could be part of my standard of living,” Gennetian said. “Other people might think about having a moving car.”

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Here is the place San Francisco is now not requiring proof of vaccination beginning Friday

Sun, 10 Apr 2022 07:03:30 +0000

You are no longer required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test at most indoor locations in San Francisco and the city of Berkeley beginning Friday.

This includes businesses serving food and drink, such as restaurants and bars, and places where elevated breathing occurs, such as gyms and fitness studios, public health officials said.

Businesses can opt to be more restrictive than local health guidelines and continue to ask for proof of vaccination or a negative test from staff and clients.

The cities are still requiring that you show proof of vaccination or a negative test at large indoor events of 1,000 people or more.

San Francisco was the first city in the nation to require proof of vaccination before entering indoor businesses, and it’s lifting the mandates as cases and hospitalizations go down. The city’s seven-day average was 110 cases per day on March 1, compared with 1,346 cases per day on Jan 1. The city’s seven-day average was 105 new cases per day on March 3, compared to 1,531 new cases per day a month ago.

“With cases and hospitalizations continuing to fall and our high vaccination rate providing a strong defense against the virus, San Francisco is ready to further reduce COVID-19 restrictions and allow individuals to make their own decisions to protect themselves and their loved ones,” Health officer dr Susan Philip said in a statement released on Wednesday. “The proof of vaccination and testing requirements served their purpose in keeping these spaces as safe as possible for staff and patrons. Rolling it back is part of coming out of crisis mode and learning to live with the virus.”

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An skilled on why San Francisco is not the most costly metropolis for renters

Mon, 13 Dec 2021 14:35:20 +0000

New York City has dethroned San Francisco as the most expensive city for renters, according to a report by real estate portal Zumper. SFGATE spoke to Zumper data journalist Jeff Andrews to understand why the City by the Bay is leaving New York behind, albeit slightly. He believes it has something to do with the high cost of living in San Francisco.

The average price for a one-bedroom apartment in New York is currently $ 2,950, only $ 150 more than San Francisco, according to Zumper’s monthly rental report.

New York has only declined 3% since March 2020, when the US was locked down due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which sees tenants fleeing major coastal cities to suburbs in search of more space and lower costs. By comparison, rents in San Francisco have fallen 20% since March 2020.

While researchers debunked the myth of statewide emigration in California, data shows that people left San Francisco during the pandemic and rents had to drop to meet lower demand.

Andrews suspects that San Francisco was first above New York between 2005 and 2008. During the financial crisis, its rents rose steadily above those of New York. Andrews said early pandemic migration consists mostly of “rich people” who could “pack on a dime” and leave. The middle and lower classes followed, with many leaving San Francisco and New York in the summer and fall of 2020.

One theory is that the predominance of the tech sector, which generally allows people to work remotely, is responsible for lower rents in San Francisco. However, Andrews found that the difference in office occupancy between New York and San Francisco was “negligibly higher,” debunking this theory.

“It’s not that the San Francisco and New York offices didn’t reopen, and that’s what made everyone come back,” he said. “Personally, I don’t think that’s the reason.”

New York, Andrews said, has generally recovered from the peak of the pandemic, which has allowed people living in cheaper areas like Brooklyn to rent their “dream homes” in more expensive neighborhoods at lower prices.

In San Francisco, rents were already so high that the 20% decline leveled rents and brought them back down, Andrews said.

“In New York there was a price incentive to come back. In San Francisco it really wasn’t just because it was so much more expensive even at the start of the pandemic,” said Andrews. “I mean, it’s still very expensive.”

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Spike In Instances Triggers Extra Demand For Testing, Longer Wait Occasions – CBS San Francisco

Sun, 22 Aug 2021 10:40:54 +0000

SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) – As COVID cases increase, more people are realizing they need to get tested. In fact, every Bay Area County health department is seeing significantly higher demand for testing, and officials don’t want community testing sites to be overwhelmed.

“We have already decided not to reduce some of the test sites that we were considering. As demand changes, we will consider opening additional test sites, ”said Dr. Chris Farnitano from Contra Costa Health Services.

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Sam Levin has been trying to get tested for days after being exposed to a close family member who tested positive.

“It’s hard to get tested now that it was at the real peak,” said Levin.

He finally got an appointment online but spent an hour one way just to get to this test site and isn’t sure how long it would have taken if he tried a walk-in.

“It’s not an easy process. For me, I’ve never tried to stop by so I don’t really know, ”said Levin.

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Gone are the mass test sites and many of the walk-ins. The majority of the remaining listed by the San Francisco Department of Health are by appointment only.

“We continue to test at full speed before we see an increase in test demand,” said Dr. Naveena Bobba of the San Francisco Department of Health.

“We are also seeing increasing demand for testing in Marin County,” said Dr. Lisa Santora of the Marin County Department of Health.

Almost every Bay Area County Health Department is currently looking into expanding their opening hours and possibly opening additional locations.

“The city of Berkeley is also seeing an increasing demand for tests and we are working with our test partners,” said Dr. Lisa Hernandez of Berkeley Public Health.

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Public health officials encourage people to check with their health care providers first, as they don’t want city or municipal websites to be cluttered with requests for testing.

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San Francisco not the costliest U.S. marketplace for tech places of work

Thu, 08 Apr 2021 02:16:53 +0000

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) – Office rental prices in San Francisco are at all-time lows.

This is not surprising when you consider that so many companies are still far away due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“Rents are relatively sticky despite mounting downward pressure. Direct average asking rents for offices fell 1.5% in the first quarter of 2021, bringing the market average to $ 75.32. “According to a report by CBRE.

Compare that to Manhattan, where the asking rent is now $ 75.99 per square foot.

Office rents in San Francisco fell to Manhattans in 2016 as tech companies like Twitter and Uber made names for themselves in the tech-centric city.

April 2021: San Francisco rents are still the most expensive

In a research study by CBRE Top 100 Leases in 2020, tech company leasing fell more than half a year year-over-year, showing a slowdown in even one of the most resilient industries.

CBRE: Industry Breakdown of the Top 100 Leases

Tech companies are renting less office space in San Francisco

CBRE also reported that Manhattan and Washington, DC made up nearly 40% of the total area of the top 100 last year.

CBRE: Top 10 Active Markets and New Lease Demand Drivers

Although office rents in San Francisco are lower than normal, the real estate market has seen the opposite impact of the pandemic.

In January, Core Logic reported a 36% increase in sales across the Bay Area in eight Bay Area counties.

“We see several offers for most houses at low prices. We see several offers. We’re seeing properties sell well above price, ”said Doug Goss, president of the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors.

‘Red Hot’ property market: Property prices are rising in the Bay Area

According to CBRE, office rental prices are expected to continue to fall in the future, only more slowly.

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