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The Quiet-Broke Index
The Quiet-Broke Index compares five household cost categories across 30 U.S. metros and calculates a personal score for high-earner expenses.
About The Quiet-Broke Index
The Quiet-Broke Index is a web tool from Henry Finance that models five fixed household costs (housing, taxes, childcare, healthcare, and transportation) for a household with $400,000 in pre-tax income across 30 U.S. metros. It ranks the metros and shows the spread between the least and most squeezed areas, which the source puts at roughly $97,000 a year. Users can enter their own income, city, housing cost, number of children in care, health premium, and transport costs to get a 0–100 score, a verdict, and the line items contributing most to the score.
The index relies on modeled assumptions. These include married filing jointly, two children in care, and public school. It does not capture private school, elder care, discretionary spending, or risk from concentrated employer stock (RSUs). The source describes the index as version 0.1, refreshed monthly, and as a starting point for discussion rather than tax advice. Pricing is unknown.
Key features
- Ranks 30 U.S. metros by a composite fixed-cost score
- Models five fixed costs: tax, housing, childcare, healthcare, transport
- Personal calculator using income, city, housing, childcare, health premium, transport
- Outputs a 0–100 score, a verdict, and the largest cost items
- Shows per-line-item breakdown for each metro
- Publishes weighting: housing 40%, tax 25%, childcare 15%, healthcare 10%, transport 10%
Best for: Households with about $400,000 in gross income that are comparing the fixed-cost burden of different U.S. metros.
Good for
- Shows which cost categories drive each metro's score
- Lists the data sources used for each cost category
- Calculator can be used without providing an email address
Watch out for
- Relies on modeled assumptions such as married filing jointly, two children in care, and public school
- Excludes private school, elder care, discretionary spending, and RSU concentration risk
- Healthcare figures are regional rather than metro-level
The Quiet-Broke Index at a glance
- Category
- Finance & Money › Finance & Property
- Type
- Online tool
- Pricing
- Not confirmed. Check the site
- Platforms
- Web
- Open source
- Not stated
- Language
- English
- Last checked
- Oct 6, 2026 · Online when checked
- Listed
- Oct 5, 2026
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The Quiet-Broke Index FAQ
Does the calculator require an email address?
No. The homepage states that no email is required to see a city's score.
What costs does the index leave out?
It does not try to capture private school, elder care, lifestyle spending, or RSU concentration risk.
Which household is the model based on?
The model assumes a $400,000 household income, married filing jointly, two children, and public school. Childcare costs are doubled to reflect two children.
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