The Living Wage a Family of Four Needs in All 50 States

If you’re raising a family of four in 2025, you’ll need a six-figure income in 26 states. That’s more than half of America where you’ll need to earn $100,000 or more annually to budget for and comfortably raise a family.

GOBankingRates surveyed annual living expenses for a family of four across the United States using data from the 2023 Consumer Expenditure Survey and for a married couple with children from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Living wage” is defined as the income required to cover 50% necessities, 30% discretionary spending and 20% for savings. Using the 50-30-20 budget rule, the study doubled the total annual expenditure on necessities to determine the “living wage” for a family of four in each state. 

Ranked in order from states from the lowest to highest earnings, here’s how much living wage is necessary for families of four.

• Living wage for a family of four: $82,338
• Annual cost of housing: $13,454
• Annual cost of groceries: $5,731
• Annual cost of healthcare: $7,465

• Living wage for a family of four: $87,564
• Annual cost of housing: $15,846
• Annual cost of groceries: $6,750
• Annual cost of healthcare: $7,373

• Living wage for a family of four: $87,607
• Annual cost of housing: $15,670
• Annual cost of groceries: $6,675
• Annual cost of healthcare: $6,949

• Living wage for a family of four: $87,944
• Annual cost of housing: $15,517
• Annual cost of groceries: $6,610
• Annual cost of healthcare: $7,141

• Living wage for a family of four: $88,312
• Annual cost of housing: $16,504
• Annual cost of groceries: $7,030
• Annual cost of healthcare: $6,617

• Living wage for a family of four: $90,659
• Annual cost of housing: $16,394
• Annual cost of groceries: $6,984
• Annual cost of healthcare: $7,658

• Living wage for a family of four: $91,667
• Annual cost of housing: $16,548
• Annual cost of groceries: $7,049
• Annual cost of healthcare: $7,458

• Living wage for a family of four: $91,669
• Annual cost of housing: $17,250
• Annual cost of groceries: $7,348
• Annual cost of healthcare: $7,064

• Living wage for a family of four: $92,179
• Annual cost of housing: $18,172
• Annual cost of groceries: $7,741
• Annual cost of healthcare: $6,756

• Living wage for a family of four: $93,349
• Annual cost of housing: $17,075
• Annual cost of groceries: $7,274
• Annual cost of healthcare: $7,820

• Living wage for a family of four: $93,544
• Annual cost of housing: $16,965
• Annual cost of groceries: $7,227
• Annual cost of healthcare: $7,535

• Living wage for a family of four: $93,807
• Annual cost of housing: $17,228
• Annual cost of groceries: $7,339
• Annual cost of healthcare: $6,987

• Living wage for a family of four: $94,102
• Annual cost of housing: $17,448
• Annual cost of groceries: $7,432
• Annual cost of healthcare: $7,820

• Living wage for a family of four: $94,682
• Annual cost of housing: $17,382
• Annual cost of groceries: $7,404
• Annual cost of healthcare: $7,550

• Living wage for a family of four: $94,752
• Annual cost of housing: $17,514
• Annual cost of groceries: $7,461
• Annual cost of healthcare: $8,152

• Living wage for a family of four: $95,480
• Annual cost of housing: $18,523
• Annual cost of groceries: $7,891
• Annual cost of healthcare: $7,342

• Living wage for a family of four: $95,763
• Annual cost of housing: $17,843
• Annual cost of groceries: $7,601
• Annual cost of healthcare: $7,319

• Living wage for a family of four: $96,130
• Annual cost of housing: $18,633
• Annual cost of groceries: $7,937
• Annual cost of healthcare: $8,105

• Living wage for a family of four: $96,640
• Annual cost of housing: $17,623
• Annual cost of groceries: $7,507
• Annual cost of healthcare: $8,090

• Living wage for a family of four: $96,870
• Annual cost of housing: $18,567
• Annual cost of groceries: $7,909
• Annual cost of healthcare: $7,450

• Living wage for a family of four: $98,082
• Annual cost of housing: $18,962
• Annual cost of groceries: $8,078
• Annual cost of healthcare: $7,203

• Living wage for a family of four: $98,427
• Annual cost of housing: $18,326
• Annual cost of groceries: $7,806
• Annual cost of healthcare: $7,072

• Living wage for a family of four: $98,585
• Annual cost of housing: $18,040
• Annual cost of groceries: $7,685
• Annual cost of healthcare: $7,110

• Living wage for a family of four: $99,453
• Annual cost of housing: $19,226
• Annual cost of groceries: $8,190
• Annual cost of healthcare: $7,488

• Living wage for a family of four: $100,000
• Annual cost of housing: $19,686
• Annual cost of groceries: $8,386
• Annual cost of healthcare: $7,805

• Living wage for a family of four: $100,332
• Annual cost of housing: $18,479
• Annual cost of groceries: $7,872
• Annual cost of healthcare: $7,758

• Living wage for a family of four: $100,750
• Annual cost of housing: $19,774
• Annual cost of groceries: $8,423
• Annual cost of healthcare: $7,751

• Living wage for a family of four: $104,582
• Annual cost of housing: $20,981
• Annual cost of groceries: $8,938
• Annual cost of healthcare: $8,044

• Living wage for a family of four: $107,042
• Annual cost of housing: $21,179
• Annual cost of groceries: $9,022
• Annual cost of healthcare: $7,828

• Living wage for a family of four: $107,324
• Annual cost of housing: $21,618
• Annual cost of groceries: $9,209
• Annual cost of healthcare: $8,128

• Living wage for a family of four: $107,412
• Annual cost of housing: $21,749
• Annual cost of groceries: $9,265
• Annual cost of healthcare: $7,820

• Living wage for a family of four: $111,303
• Annual cost of housing: $22,781
• Annual cost of groceries: $9,704
• Annual cost of healthcare: $8,198

• Living wage for a family of four: $112,401
• Annual cost of housing: $23,637
• Annual cost of groceries: $10,069
• Annual cost of healthcare: $7,350

• Living wage for a family of four: $112,828
• Annual cost of housing: $23,615
• Annual cost of groceries: $10,060
• Annual cost of healthcare: $7,982

• Living wage for a family of four: $112,965
• Annual cost of housing: $23,439
• Annual cost of groceries: $9,985
• Annual cost of healthcare: $6,486

• Living wage for a family of four: $123,298
• Annual cost of housing: $25,107
• Annual cost of groceries: $10,695
• Annual cost of healthcare: $8,260

• Living wage for a family of four: $123,863
• Annual cost of housing: $25,502
• Annual cost of groceries: $10,864
• Annual cost of healthcare: $8,506

• Living wage for a family of four: $126,753
• Annual cost of housing: $25,722
• Annual cost of groceries: $10,957
• Annual cost of healthcare: $8,661

• Living wage for a family of four: $128,484
• Annual cost of housing: $28,465
• Annual cost of groceries: $12,126
• Annual cost of healthcare: $6,925

• Living wage for a family of four: $131,024
• Annual cost of housing: $27,807
• Annual cost of groceries: $11,845
• Annual cost of healthcare: $8,977

• Living wage for a family of four: $131,102
• Annual cost of housing: $29,848
• Annual cost of groceries: $12,715
• Annual cost of healthcare: $6,918

• Living wage for a family of four: $131,824
• Annual cost of housing: $28,904
• Annual cost of groceries: $12,313
• Annual cost of healthcare: $8,637

• Living wage for a family of four: $131,996
• Annual cost of housing: $29,211
• Annual cost of groceries: $12,444
• Annual cost of healthcare: $8,738

• Living wage for a family of four: $134,990
• Annual cost of housing: $30,331
• Annual cost of groceries: $12,920
• Annual cost of healthcare: $8,229

• Living wage for a family of four: $135,943
• Annual cost of housing: $29,804
• Annual cost of groceries: $12,696
• Annual cost of healthcare: $8,707

• Living wage for a family of four: $136,990
• Annual cost of housing: $25,854
• Annual cost of groceries: $11,013
• Annual cost of healthcare: $11,290

• Living wage for a family of four: $155,738
• Annual cost of housing: $37,354
• Annual cost of groceries: $15,912
• Annual cost of healthcare: $8,607

• Living wage for a family of four: $188,269
• Annual cost of housing: $45,891
• Annual cost of groceries: $19,549
• Annual cost of healthcare: $8,213

• Living wage for a family of four: $199,671
• Annual cost of housing: $49,600
• Annual cost of groceries: $21,129
• Annual cost of healthcare: $10,033

• Living wage for a family of four: $258,918
• Annual cost of housing: $66,412
• Annual cost of groceries: $28,290
• Annual cost of healthcare: $9,540

Heather Taylor contributed to the reporting for this piece.

Methodology: GOBankingRates surveyed annual living expenses for a family of four in all 50 states, using the 2023 Consumer Expenditure Survey (latest available) data for a married couple with children (oldest child 6-17) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The itemized costs of living evaluated were housing, groceries, utilities, healthcare and transportation, collectively termed “necessities.” Based on each state’s respective cost-of-living index for each category, sourced from the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center’s 2024 Q3 Cost of Living Data Series, the study calculated the annual cost of each necessity and summed them up to find total annual expenditure on necessities. Using the 50-30-20 budget rule, which allocates 50% of income for necessities, the study doubled the total annual expenditure on necessities in order to determine the “living wage” for a family of four in each state. “Living wage” is defined as the income required to be able to cover 50% necessities, 30% discretionary/luxury spending and 20% for savings. All data was collected on and is up to date as of Dec. 11, 2024.