Just what you needed in a recession -- being told that you live in the most expensive part of California.
The cost of living is on the rise throughout the Bay Area and most sharply rose in Marin County, according to a report. In Marin, it costs $86,000 for a family of four to meet its most basic needs for a year, according to the Marin Independent Journal. That's an 18 percent increase from three years ago, or when people started losing their jobs and homes, the newspaper reported.
Marin's rise in the cost of living is the area's most dramatic, but other counties saw similar increases, the newspaper reported.
What's worse, however, is the percentage of families which cannot meet what's called a "self-sufficiency standard," or basic minimums in food, clothing, shelter, health care, transportation and education.
A full 23 percent of Marin households failed to meet those needs in 2010, the newspaper reported, and with the job market stagnant, it's unclear how that number can improve.
Average annual pay for jobs based in Marin was $56,128 in 2010, an increase of only $22 from 2008, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
