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It takes a lot more money to pay for basic living expenses and still have enough money to save than it did a decade ago.
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The cost of housing, groceries, utilities, car payments — you name it — has increased to the point that in some states, a six-figure salary doesn’t guarantee a financially stress-free life.
In every state, a single adult now needs at least $80,000 a year to live comfortably. As of July, the median wage for U.S. earners is around $64,000.
While wages have mostly kept up with inflation, the income needed for someone to support themselves and their family is out of reach for many. But which states require the highest salary to not live paycheck to paycheck?
SmartAsset used data from MIT’s Cost of Living Calculator to gather cost-of-living estimates and determine which states cost more to live in.
The lower the state’s rank, the less expensive it is to live comfortably. Here’s how much a person needs to make in South Carolina to live comfortably:
Income needed to live comfortably as a single adult in SC
South Carolinians don’t need to make as much as those in other states to live without financial stress, according to Smart Asset.
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The Palmetto State ranks 29th in the country for the income a person needs to live comfortably, sitting right below North Carolina. For a single adult without kids, a $92,934 annual salary should at least cover all necessary expenses and leave some additional spending for luxury items or extra vacations.
If there are more people in someone’s family, the necessary income increases quite a bit. A family of four needs at least an annual household income of $212,909 to live comfortably.
Like almost every other state, SC got more expensive, and it costs more to add more luxury to your life. It is 0.9% more expensive to live comfortably than it was last year.
Only in six states did it become less expensive to live comfortably year-over-year. These states are Tennessee, Maryland, Louisiana, North Carolina, Mississippi and Texas.
10 cheapest states to live comfortably
The following 10 states ranked at the bottom of the list, which sounds like a bad thing, but it just means the required annual salary to live comfortably for a single person is much lower:
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- #50. West Virginia: $81,245
- #49. Arkansas: $83,242
- #48. Kentucky: $84,074
- #47. Louisiana: $84,739
- #46. South Dakota: $85,405
- #45. North Dakota: $85,738
- #44. Mississippi: $86,070
- #43. Oklahoma: $86,237
- #42. Ohio: $87,360
- #41. Alabama: $87,610