<prompt> Human: I understand this is an extremely general question, but I would like to get a better idea of how quality of life changes with the salary that you make.  <response>: Half of all American households currently live on less than 49,000 per year, the median income. One would assume that anything above that would probably be reasonably safe and comfortable, the possible exceptions being if you chose to live somewhere really expensive. That said, theres also the phenomenon of needs increasing with income. As one climbs the standard of living ladder, there are always new levels of need appearing. Thats why some people who make well over 1m per year call themselves middle class and claim to not have enough money to live on. 