E-Paper
San Francisco to New York: NRI reveals how much H-1B workers need to earn to live comfortably in US
According to the NRI's calculation, a family of 2 adults and 2 children would need to earn $407,597 a year in San Francisco to live comfortably in 2026.
Prefer HTon Google
An NRI entrepreneur has caught the internet’s attention after breaking down how much a family of four would need to earn annually to live “comfortably” in 10 major American cities while on an H-1B visa.
Aniruddha Anjana, a US startup owner who returned to India after spending 10 years in the US, shared the salary breakdown in an Instagram post. “This is how much you actually need to earn on H-1B to live comfortably in USA,” the text on the clip read.
Cost of living in the US
According to Anjana’s calculation, a family of two adults and two children would need to earn $407,597 (around ₹3.89 crore) a year in San Francisco to live comfortably in 2026. San Jose follows at $402,771 (around ₹3.84 crore), while Boston requires $368,742 (approximately ₹3.52 crore).
The figures shared by him for the 10 cities are:
San Francisco: $407,597 (around ₹3.89 crore)
San Jose: $402,771 (around ₹3.84 crore)
Boston: $368,742 (around ₹3.52 crore)
New York: $337,875 (around ₹3.22 crore)
Seattle: $334,131 (around ₹3.19 crore)
Washington DC: $319,405 (around ₹3 crore)
Chicago: $242,278 (around ₹2.31 crore)
Austin: $229,050 (around ₹2.18 crore)
Dallas: $214,490 (around ₹2 crore)
Houston: $204,672 (around ₹1.9 crore)
“Read that again. Even Houston — one of the more affordable major cities in the country — needs over $200K a year for a family of four to live comfortably. And most H1B salaries, especially outside big tech, don’t come close to these numbers,” Anjana wrote.
He explained that his calculations use the 50/30/20 budgeting rule, with 50% of income allocated to fixed expenses, 30% to wants such as travel and entertainment, and 20% towards investments.
“This is the part nobody tells you when you’re chasing the American dream: the salary that sounded huge back in India often barely covers a stressed, tight budget once you’re actually living here with a family,” the NRI wrote.
(Also Read: ‘I thought home would feel different’: NRI shares struggle of settling back in India)
‘I earn in dollars, but I spend in rupees’
Anjana, who spent a decade in the US before returning to India, further said that his own experience made him reconsider the trade-off between earning in the US and the cost of living there.
“I know I was way underpaid for what I was giving up so I decided to change that,” he wrote.
He said that he subsequently started a company in the US and moved back to India to run it. This arrangement, he said, allows him to earn in dollars while spending in rupees, giving him greater financial flexibility and allowing him to travel to the US on his own terms.
“I earn in dollars, but I spend in rupees. That single shift is what actually gave me the freedom to travel to the US whenever I want, on my own terms, and live the version of the American dream that actually works for my life,” he said.
(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. Hindustantimes.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)
