A new report found that a single American adult who makes less than$ 80, 000 annually cannot afford to live comfortably in one state.
The report, which SmartAsset released on June 4, also revealed that families of four must earn more than$ 200, 000 to comfortably live in nearly every state.
To arrive at these conclusions, SmartAsset, a personal finance website, analyzed data from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Living Wage Calculator to determine the average monthly living expenses for one people and households with two people and two kids.
Cover, travel, taxes, and other expenses are taken into account when considering these costs.
The site then used these baseline costs to implement the 50/30/20 budgeting rule, which states that 20 % of income goes toward discretionary spending, 30 % to savings, and 20 % to investments.
People who are one
According to the report, West Virginia is the state where single people can live comfortably on a pay of$ 80, 829, making it the most economical state.
Adults earning between$ 80, 000 and$ 90,000 would be able to afford a reasonable and sustainable lifestyle in 18 other states. Arkansas, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and New Mexico were just a few examples.
The remaining 31 states demand salaries above$ 90,000, and 15 of these, the majority of which are coast-based, demand salaries above$ 100,000.
Hawaii, the state with the highest cost of living, may require an income of$ 124, 467 for a second child to sit comfortably. This was followed by Massachusetts ($ 120, 141 ), California ($ 119, 475 ) and New York ($ 114, 691 ).
According to the review, a person in any position must make$ 5, 844 more this year than they did last year to maintain a comfortable resources overall.
individuals with four
The review found that Mississippi is the most economical state for a family of four with two working people. Below, a salary of$ 186, 618 is needed to easily live.
This figure fell below$ 200, 000 in just six other states: Kentucky ($ 192, 941 ), Arkansas ($ 193, 773 ), Alabama ($ 194, 522 ), West Virginia ($ 195, 354), South Dakota ($ 197, 933 ) and Louisiana ($ 199, 597 ).
Massachusetts, where a family of four could live easily on an income of$ 313, 747, was the state where a family of four could sit comfortably. This was followed by Hawaii ($ 294, 362 ), Connecticut ($ 290, 368 ) and California ($ 287, 456 ).
In total, a family of four in any of the 50 state needs to bring in about$ 9,360 more than the previous year to have a moderate finances.
___
The Charlotte Observer, 2025.
Tribune Content Agency, LLC distributed.
