In One Chart: Where the cost of living is so high even a techie with a teacher spouse won’t be able to sock away savings

Just because you live in a big city and command a relatively large salary doesn’t mean you’re actually saving money. In fact, quite the opposite is often true.

While residents of San Francisco enjoy the highest median household income among U.S. municipalities, they arguably live in the worst place to save money. And San Francisco is more than just a challenging place to save for retirement, college or a house; it’s a great place to lose money — and fast.

Data analysis site HowMuch used its cost-of-living calculator to simulate how much money a sample family of three in various U.S. cities would have available for savings at the end of each year. For the simulation, HowMuch assumed both parents worked, with one employed as a web developer and the other as a postsecondary teacher. They also assumed the family rented a 1,750-square-foot home and ate at moderate cost.

In San Francisco that simulated family would, in a sense, find itself in a $62,300-a-year hole.

The worst places for families to save money

City	Amount of money left over annually for an average family of three to allocate to savings
San Francisco	-$62,300
New York	-$54,100
Boston	-$34,000
Washington	-$22,200
Philadelphia	-$9,100
	HowMuch

Following that trend, New York City has the second-highest median household income, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and it’s the second worst place, by this measure, to save money.

The best place to sock away money? That’s Spokane, Wash., where the simulated family would have a whopping $83,400 a year left for savings. Spokane also ranks as the top city in the U.S. for freelancers, and it’s been selected as the best place to live on a six-figure salary.

As far as the cities filling out spots No. 2 through 5 on HowMuch’s list goes, Nevada dominates. The list includes many cities in the Las Vegas area, such as Henderson, North Las Vegas and Las Vegas itself, while Reno comes in at No. 5.

The best places for families to save money

City	Amount of money left over annually for an average family of three to allocate to savings
Spokane, Wash.	+$83,400
Henderson, Nev.	+$59,100
North Las Vegas, Nev,	+$56,600
Las Vegas	+$55,900
Reno, Nev.	+$48,800
	HowMuch

And don’t think that you need to be a Cirque du Soleil performer or professional gambler to get a job in Vegas. The metro area has rapidly grown as an entrepreneurial destination, with much of the credit given to Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, who has invested millions of dollars into the city to attract entrepreneurs (though that project has seen mixed success). Nevada also does not collect a state income tax.

Before you pack your bags and move to the Midwest in pursuit of an improved capacity to amass savings, note that one noncoastal city, by HowMuch’s metrics, affords the simulated family a negative annual financial outcome: Minneapolis.