f11photo/Shutterstock How much money you need to save depends on where you live.
- How much money you need to save depends on where you live.
- Bankrate.com recently released a report detailing the best places to save for a six-month emergency fund in the US's top 50 metro areas.
- San Jose, California, was the hardest place to save money for emergencies, while Kansas City, Missouri, was the easiest.
Americans' savings habits just aren't cutting it.
The average American socks away 3.5% of their income every month, well below the standard recommendation to save 10% to 15%. That's leaving Americans with a median savings account balance of $5,200.
Added to injury is the fact that 63% of Americans don't have sufficient emergency savings, a statistic made all the more shocking considering the general rule of thumb for an adequate emergency fund is to have six months of expenses at the ready.
While there are certain steps you can take to cut back on everyday expenses and save more money, your savings account might be better off depending on the metro area you live in.
A new report by Bankrate.com revealed the best places to save money for a six-month emergency savings fund across the US's top 50 metro areas. They calculated the total monthly cost of living expenses (including mortgage payments, groceries, bills, insurance, taxes, credit card payments, and more) for a typical family of four in each metro area. They multiplied those expenses by six to get the amount of savings the family would need in an emergency fund (enough to cover six months of living).
Bankrate.com then calculated how much money the family could potentially save every year by deducting one year's worth of those expenses from the median take-home pay for each metro area.
The final ranking was determined by how much of a recommended six-month emergency fund the typical family would be able to save, displayed as a percent. For example, in Memphis, Tennessee, the typical family has the potential to save 56% of their emergency fund goal in one year based on how much money the household earns and spends.
While emergency savings funds fare better in some places than others, the final numbers shed light on yet another American money woe - it's hard, if not impossible, to save for an emergency fund in just one year. Even in the easiest metro area to save money - Kansas City, Missouri - the typical family only has the potential to save 63% of their emergency fund goal in just one year.
We narrowed down the list to the 25 best places to live to save money. Scroll through below to see which metro areas made the cut, ranked from hardest places to save to easiest.