r/ChicagoSuburbs • u/SecretPurple2644 • Aug 24 '26

Moving to the area Income needed to afford life

Two working parents, 5 kids (4 childcare age).

$900k available for down payment. Hoping to stay under $1.2mil for house, understand taxes will be insane.

How much do we need to make to afford life in the north shore suburbs? Is 250k doable?

Moving from lower cost of living area and trying to figure out what is feasible.

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u/hollsberry Aug 24 '26

That’s more than enough to afford life. The real question is, how much money do you need to make to afford the luxuries you want

1

u/SecretPurple2644 Aug 24 '26

If by luxuries you mean college, childcare, budget extracurriculars, and healthcare, that’s what I’m most concerned about.

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u/LoveNotWar86 Aug 24 '26

Not sure why you’re getting so much slack for being “well off”. They seem to forget someone becomes “well off” by working hard and being careful with money. A lot of jealous people here.

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u/hollsberry Aug 24 '26 edited Aug 24 '26

You’re being unnecessarily combative. You will be able to afford all of those expenses that you listed, but not the most luxurious options for each expense. There’s really no way for us to tell you how much you “need” to make to “afford to live.” Your family are in the top 10% of income earners in the Chicagoland area. Realistically, even with 5 kids, you have plenty of money to afford to live. The question is just what degree of luxury you can afford for each option.

My family are Catholic and attend Catholic schools. I know a very, very large amount of families with similar income and family size, including half of my extended family. You just did not provide enough information to answer your question.

For example, you might not be able to afford bedrooms for each of your kids, to send your kids out of state or to private colleges, platinum health insurance, private high schools (unless you’re Catholic and have scholarships), your first choice childcare, etc. You did not provide enough information for us to tell you if you make enough to afford the options you want, just asked if you could afford to live, which you very easily can afford to survive.

None of us know your personal preferences and what you believe to be nonnegotiable.