People in the 11 most expensive US states need an annual income of more than $100,000 to live comfortably.
This map, via Bruno Venditti of Visual Capitalist, show how much income single adults need to live comfortably in every US state. SmartAsset calculated the required income using the cost of necessities from the MIT Living Wage Calculator, last updated on February 14, 2024.
In this case, “comfortable” was defined as the annual income needed to cover a 50/30/20 budget, allocating 50% of income to needs such as housing costs and utilities, 30% to spending discretionary and 20% to savings or investments.
Massachusetts ranks first
Massachusetts is the most expensive state to live comfortably. A single adult must earn at least $116,022 a year or $55.78 an hour.
| classification | status | You are needed for a single working adult |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts | $116,022 |
| 2 | Hawaii | $113,693 |
| 3 | California | $113,651 |
| 4 | New York | $111,738 |
| 5 | Washington | $106,496 |
| 6 | Colorado | $103,293 |
| 7 | New Jersey | $103,002 |
| 8 | Maryland | $102,918 |
| 9 | Oregon | $101,088 |
| 10 | Rhode Island | $100,838 |
| 11 | Connecticut | $100,381 |
| 12 | virginia | $99,965 |
| 13 | New Hampshire | $98,093 |
| 14 | Arizona | $97,344 |
| 15 | Georgia | $96,886 |
| 16 | Alaska | $96,762 |
| 17 | Vermont | $95,763 |
| 18 | Illinois | $95,098 |
| 19 | Delaware | $94,141 |
| 20 | Utah | $93,683 |
| 21 | snowfall | $93,434 |
| 22 | Florida | $93,309 |
| 23 | Maine | $91,686 |
| 24 | pennsylvania | $91,312 |
| 25 | North Carolina | $89,690 |
| 26 | Minnesota | $89,232 |
| 27 | Idaho | $88,733 |
| 28 | South Carolina | $88,317 |
| 29 | Wyoming | $87,651 |
| 30 | Texas | $87,027 |
| 31 | Tennessee | $86,403 |
| 32 | Indiana | $85,030 |
| 33 | montana | $84,739 |
| 34 | Kansas | $84,656 |
| 35 | Michigan | $84,365 |
| 36 | Wisconsin | $84,115 |
| 37 | Missouri | $84,032 |
| 38 | Alabama | $83,824 |
| 39 | Nebraska | $83,699 |
| 40 | New Mexico | $83,616 |
| 41 | Iowa | $83,366 |
| 42 | mississippi | $82,742 |
| 43 | Louisiana | $82,451 |
| 44 | South Dakota | $81,453 |
| 45 | Ohio | $80,704 |
| 45 | Kentucky | $80,704 |
| 47 | North Dakota | $80,538 |
| 48 | oklahoma | $80,413 |
| 49 | Arkansas | $79,456 |
| 50 | West Virginia | $78,790 |
West Virginia is the least expensive for a single adult, who only needs to earn about $37.88 an hour, or $78,790 a year.
To live comfortably on their own in the top five states, a person would need to earn nearly twice the typical income of single workers, as the median US income for full-time single workers is about $60,000, according to work Office data
If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check it out this chartwhich ranks the income a family needs to live comfortably in every state in the United States.
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