Skip to content
The Art of Liberty Foundation
Sign in Subscribe

The salary a single person needs to live comfortably in all 50 U.S. states—it’s over $120,000 in 2 places

By Etienne de la Boetie2
The salary a single person needs to live comfortably in all 50 U.S. states—it’s over $120,000 in 2 places
Published:
|
Share to X Share to Bluesky Share to Facebook Share to LinkedIn Share by email
Asian adult female working from home

by Kamaron McNair, www.cnbc.com

Americans earning a regular salary may have trouble living comfortably in all 50 states.

The median annual wage for individuals was just below $62,000 at the end of 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But it takes a salary of at least $80,829 for a single adult to live comfortably in West Virginia, the most affordable state, according to a recent SmartAsset study.

SmartAsset defines “comfortable” as earning enough to follow the 50/30/20 budget method, which recommends putting 50% of your income toward essentials like rent and food, 30% toward discretionary spending and 20% toward debt repayment and savings. It used the latest estimates from Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Living Wage calculator to estimate individuals’ cost of necessities in each state.

On the other side of the spectrum from West Virginia, residents in Hawaii need to earn a minimum of $124,467 a year to live comfortably, SmartAsset finds. That’s the highest of any state and one of two states — along with Massachusetts — where individuals need to earn at least $120,000 a year to afford a comfortable lifestyle.

Here’s how much money it takes for a single adult to live comfortably in every U.S. state 2025.

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

The Daily News from the Art of Liberty Foundation is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

While the 50/30/20 budget can be an effective tool to manage your money, it can also be difficult to follow if you have high fixed costs. And though data suggests wage growth nationwide is actually outpacing price inflation, many Americans don’t feel that way.

About 7 in 10 Americans feel stressed about their finances, according to a CNBC/SurveyMonkey online poll conducted in April. Plus, President Donald Trump’s tariffs threaten to push prices up even further.

Boosting your income by switching jobs or getting a side hustle may be easier said than done, but it can help give you some breathing room in your budget, especially if you’ve already cut out as much discretionary spending as you can.

Are you ready to buy a house? Take Smarter by CNBC Make It’s new online course How to Buy Your First Home. Expert instructors will help you weigh the cost of renting vs. buying, financially prepare, and confidently navigate every step of the process—from mortgage basics to closing the deal. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through July 15, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life, and request to join our exclusive community on LinkedIn to connect with experts and peers.

Continue reading...

New book by Etienne de la Boetie2 exposes that the government and Hollywood have been running a multi-generational, trillion-dollar psychological operation on the population to indoctrinate them into accepting a ruling class, confiscatory taxation, and inflationary fractional reserve currency issued by private banks.

The book details 25 unethically manipulative techniques the “government” and monopoly media have been secretly using on the population, ranging from a hidden curriculum in their mandatory schools and scouting to the secret placement of propaganda in over 1,000+ movies and 1,000+ television shows. These techniques include subliminal messages and product placement of the American flag “anchored” to moments of high-positive emotion during the “programming”.

See the Press Release with more details HERE.

Buy the book at SeeTheCage.com

Substack readers can get the book for FREE by “Going Paid” to ANY of the Art of Liberty Foundation’s four Substacks AND get access to all four of those Substacks! Simply “Go Paid” and we will reply with details.

The Daily News from the Art of Liberty Foundation is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Etienne de la Boetie2

Etienne de la Boetie2

All articles
Tags: Inflation & Central Banking War, Empire & Foreign Policy Health, Food & Pharma Daily News

More in Inflation & Central Banking

See all

More from Etienne de la Boetie2

See all