The salary a single person needs to live comfortably in every U.S. state (2024)

A single person will need to earn over six figures to live comfortably in the most expensive U.S. states, a SmartAsset analysis reveals.

"Comfortable" is defined as the monthly income needed to cover a 50/30/20 budget, which allocates 50% of your earnings for necessities like housing and utility costs, 30% for discretionary spending and 20% for savings or investments.

The income needed for each state was extrapolated based on the cost of necessities, using data from the MIT Living Wage Calculator.

Here's a look at the five most-costly states for single workers, based on how much money residents would need to earn each year to live comfortably.

1. Massachusetts: $116,022
2. Hawaii: $113,693
3. California: $113,651
4. New York: $111,738
5. Washington: $106,496

To live comfortably on your own in these states, you'd need to earn nearly double what most single earners typically make, as the U.S median income for single, full-time workers is around $60,000, per Labor Bureau data.

The national median for living comfortably alone is $89,461, which suggests that a 50/30/20 budget might not be practical for most single people.

Living alone comes with added costs that can be more than double what you'd spend if you lived with someone else — otherwise known as the "singles tax." Housing is the most obvious expense, but single people also pay extra costs for groceries, travel, transportation and entertainment.

To make ends meetwhile living alone,youmight need to find roomin your budget. That couldmeanchoosing asmaller spaceor spending less on discretionary purchases, like travel.

Here's a look at the income needed to live comfortably in each state, listed in alphabetical order.

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $83,824

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $96,762

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $97,344

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $79,456

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $113,651

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $103,292

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $100,381

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $94,141

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $93,309

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $96,886

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $113,693

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $88,733

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $95,098

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $85,030

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $83,366

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $84,656

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $80,704

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $82,451

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $91,686

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $102,918

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $116,022

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $84,365

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $89,232

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $82,742

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $84,032

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $84,739

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $83,699

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $93,434

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $98,094

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $103,002

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $83,616

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $111,738

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $89,690

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $52,807

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $80,704

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $80,413

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $101,088

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $91,312

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $100,838

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $88,317

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $81,453

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $86,403

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $87,027

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $93,683

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $95,763

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $99,965

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $106,496

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $78,790

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $84,115

• Annual income needed to live comfortably: $87,651

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