The salary required to “get by” is vastly different depending on which state you live in. In some states, you can make less than $50,000 a year and be just fine. In others, you need to make more than $100,000.
A single workers’ median income in the U.S. is $57,200 — a salary that will keep you afloat in just 30 states, according to CNBC.
“Cost of living and salary are highly correlated. A major portion of cost of living is in the real estate sector,” said Dr. Lee Tenpao Lee, an economics professor at Niagra University. “Nevertheless, they are all determined by supply and demand. The government cannot force the people to stay in its state, nor can ask companies to pay higher salaries. However, the government can propose policies that will enhance economic development and generate high-salary jobs to keep workers in its state and therefore also add extra values to the real estate sector.”
Depending on where you live, you may have to make some sacrifices to get by. A lot of it has to do with housing. The overall median home price in the U.S. is $410,200, well above average income.
California, New York, and Hawaii remain the highest cost of living where to live currently.
Most residents from California had migrated to Texas and Florida for lower cost of living as Austin and Miami had been growing space for other industries that includes big tech.
The rise of cost of living in California had been the biggest driver for residents moving out as some had blamed the states progressive policies that including the rise in homelessness and crime.
And single people often pay much more than married couples, who are able to split housing costs.
Home prices also vary greatly depending on location. In the Midwest, $366,600 is the median home price. In the South, it’s $311,800, while on the coast and around big cities, prices are much higher.
Despite the recent pullback, real estate in the U.S. has trended higher long term, as seen in the IShares U.S. Real Estate ETF (ARCA:IYR).
CNBC compiled data from GOBankingRates.com, which shows what a single person needs to make per year to “get by” in each state. Benzinga ordered the data from lowest to highest. Here’s a look at the results.
- Mississippi: $45,906
- Oklahoma: $46,024
- Alabama: $46,577
- Arkansas: $47,111
- Kentucky: $47,318
- Kansas: $47,379
- West Virginia: $47,732
- Missouri: $47,771
- Iowa: $48,518
- Tennessee: $48,774
- Nebraska: $49,009
- Georgia: $49,051
- Illinois: $49,372
- Wyoming: $49,666
- Indiana: $49,855
- Michigan: $50,049
- Louisiana: $50,087
- Ohio: $50,157
- Texas: $50,497
- New Mexico: $51,214
- Minnesota: $51,668
- South Dakota: $52,095
- South Carolina: $52,222
- North Dakota: $52,807
- Wisconsin: $53,122
- North Carolina: $53,531
- Pennsylvania: $53,838
- Utah: $55,293
- Delaware: $56,571
- Montana: $57,056
- Florida: $57,064
- Virginia: $57,293
- Nevada: $58,580
- Idaho: $58,634
- Colorado: $59,218
- Rhode Island: $59,936
- Arizona: $60,026
- Maine: $60,862
- New Hampshire: $62,935
- Connecticut: $63,078
- New Jersey: $64,463
- Washington: $65,640
- Oregon: $65,763
- Vermont: $65,923
- Maryland: $67,915
- Alaska: $71,570
- New York: $73,226
- California: $80,013
- Massachusetts: $87,909
- Hawaii: $112,411
Produced in association with Benzinga
