10 States That Require the Least Money for Your Family To Live Comfortably

There’s a six-figure price tag attached to living comfortably as a family of four in several U.S. states, like Florida and California. Fortunately, Americans may explore 10 states with a much lower cost of living afforded to growing families.

GOBankingRates utilized the 2023 Consumer Expenditure Survey data for a married couple with children from the Bureau of Labor statistics to determine annual living expenses for a family of four in all 50 states. Housing, groceries and healthcare were each evaluated as itemized costs of living. The term “living wage” is defined as income required to cover 50% necessities, 30% discretionary spending and 20% savings with a full methodology available at the end of this story.

Ranked in order of states where you’d need the most to least money, see which 10 states afford families with a comfortable lifestyle.

• 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: $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: $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: $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: $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: $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: $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: $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: $87,564
• 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: $82,338
• Annual cost of housing: $13,454
• Annual cost of groceries: $5,731
• Annual cost of healthcare: $7,465

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 to 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.