Money

Mapped: The Income Needed to Live Comfortably in Every U.S. State

Published

3 weeks ago

June 12, 2024

Bruno Venditti

Graphics/Design:

Miranda Smith

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

The Income Needed to Live Comfortably in Every U.S. State

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Individuals in the top 11 most expensive states in the U.S. need an annual income exceeding $100,000 to live comfortably.

This map shows how much income single adults need to live comfortably in each U.S. state. SmartAsset calculated the income needed using the cost of necessities sourced from the MIT Living Wage Calculator, last updated on Feb. 14, 2024.

In this case, “comfortable” was defined as the annual income required to cover a 50/30/20 budget, allocating 50% of earnings to necessities such as housing and utility costs, 30% to discretionary spending, and 20% to savings or investments.

Massachusetts Ranks First

Massachusetts is the most expensive state to live comfortably in. A single adult needs to make at least $116,022 annually or $55.78 per hour.

Rank	State	Salary needed for a single working adult
1	Massachusetts	$116,022
2	Hawaii	$113,693
3	California	$113,651
4	New York	$111,738
5	Washington	$106,496
6	Colorado	$103,293
7	New Jersey	$103,002
8	Maryland	$102,918
9	Oregon	$101,088
10	Rhode Island	$100,838
11	Connecticut	$100,381
12	Virginia	$99,965
13	New Hampshire	$98,093
14	Arizona	$97,344
15	Georgia	$96,886
16	Alaska	$96,762
17	Vermont	$95,763
18	Illinois	$95,098
19	Delaware	$94,141
20	Utah	$93,683
21	Nevada	$93,434
22	Florida	$93,309
23	Maine	$91,686
24	Pennsylvania	$91,312
25	North Carolina	$89,690
26	Minnesota	$89,232
27	Idaho	$88,733
28	South Carolina	$88,317
29	Wyoming	$87,651
30	Texas	$87,027
31	Tennessee	$86,403
32	Indiana	$85,030
33	Montana	$84,739
34	Kansas	$84,656
35	Michigan	$84,365
36	Wisconsin	$84,115
37	Missouri	$84,032
38	Alabama	$83,824
39	Nebraska	$83,699
40	New Mexico	$83,616
41	Iowa	$83,366
42	Mississippi	$82,742
43	Louisiana	$82,451
44	South Dakota	$81,453
45	Ohio	$80,704
45	Kentucky	$80,704
47	North Dakota	$80,538
48	Oklahoma	$80,413
49	Arkansas	$79,456
50	West Virginia	$78,790

West Virginia is the least expensive for a single adult, who only needs to make an estimated $37.88 per hour, or $78,790 annually.

To live comfortably on your own in the top five states, a person would need to earn nearly double the typical income for single earners, as the U.S. median income for single, full-time workers is around $60,000, according to Labor Bureau data.

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out this graphic, which ranks the income a family needs to live comfortably in every U.S. state.

Related Topics:money America maps income map state economy US states sallary

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Wealth

Ranked: Countries With the Most Millionaires and Billionaires

The U.S. has more millionaires than Ireland has people. Here’s a list of other countries with the most millionaires.

Published

8 hours ago

July 3, 2024

Marcus Lu

A crop chart listing the top 12 countries by number of high net worth individuals (HNWIs).

Ranked: Countries With the Most Millionaires and Billionaires

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

This graphic lists the top 12 countries by number of high net worth individuals (HNWIs). An HNWI is someone with liquid investable wealth of $1 million USD or more.

Importantly this excludes assets such as primary residences from counting towards wealth.
Data for this graphic is sourced from the Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2024.

Where Do the Wealthy Live?

The U.S. leads the world with a massive millionaire (>$1 million USD) population of 5,492,400. To put this into perspective, the U.S. has more millionaires than Ireland has people.

Unsurprisingly, America also has the most centi-millionaires (9,850) and billionaires (788) as well.

Country	Millionaires (USD 1M+)	Centi-millionaires (USD 100M+)	Billionaires (USD 1B+)
🇺🇸 U.S.	5,492,400	9,850	788
🇨🇳 China	862,400	2,352	305
🇩🇪 Germany	806,100	1,075	82
🇯🇵 Japan	754,800	748	39
🇬🇧 UK	602,500	830	75
🇫🇷 France	506,000	605	55
🇨🇭 Switzerland	427,700	730	40
🇦🇺 Australia	383,300	463	48
🇨🇦 Canada	371,200	495	52
🇮🇳 India	326,400	1,044	120
🇮🇹 Italy	289,300	418	38
🇸🇬 Singapore	244,800	336	30

Note: Data current to December, 2023.

Far behind the U.S. in all three metrics, China is the next country with the most millionaires (862,400) and billionaires (305).

However, despite ranking 11th in terms of millionaires, India has the world’s third-largest billionaire population (120).

Economic size is a clear indication of a country’s propensity to having more numbers of high net worth individuals. Nine of the top 12 countries with the biggest wealthy populations are also the top 10 countries by gross domestic product.

However, Switzerland and Singapore are two countries that punch above their weight, helped by their status as offshore financial centers. With their tax benefits, asset protection, and privacy, they tend to attract wealthy individuals at a higher rate. For smaller countries, attracting this outside wealth can dramatically increase economic activity.