For single people, the cost of living has now outpaced median wages in all 50 states, a new study from SmartAsset found.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers were $1,192 in Q4 2024. That puts the annual median wage at just under $62,000.
However, in West Virginia, the least expensive state in the U.S., an individual would need $80,829 to live comfortably.
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SmartAsset defines living comfortably as “being able to afford hobbies, vacations, retirement savings, education funds, and the occasional emergency – in addition to necessities like housing, groceries, transportation and medical expenses.” Using those parameters and MIT’s Living Wage Calculator, the fintech company calculated how much it would cost for both a single individual and a family of four to live in each locale.
From West Virginia on the lower end, to Massachusetts and Hawaii on the upper end— with necessary incomes of $120,141 and $124,467 per individual, respectively— comfortable costs of living vary widely across the states.
While studies like those done by the Economic Policy Institute show that wage growth is exceeding inflation, many Americans don’t feel that way. A poll conducted by CNBC and SurveyMonkey in April found that seven in 10 Americans, or 73%, feel stressed about their finances. Additionally, 75% of Americans reported that they were cutting back on spending in at least one non-essential category, including hobbies and travel, to help their budgets.
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To help bridge the gap between the amount required to live comfortably and the median wage, many people are getting second jobs. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that the number of multiple job holders has gone up by 200,000 over the last year, reaching 8.5 million as of last month. In April, the number hit an all-time high with 8.9 million people holding one or more jobs, according to Forbes.
Life Planning Partners founder Carolyn McClanahan told CNBC in March that the multiple job phenomenon is “pretty complex,” driven in equal parts by necessity and opportunity.
“If you’re going to try to have some semblance of a traditional life with kids, and a house and transportation, [it] takes a lot of money to do that,” she said. You have to “work a lot harder to make ends meet.”
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This article The Salary A Single Person Needs To Live Comfortably Now Outweighs Median Annual Wages In All 50 States originally appeared on Benzinga.com
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