Personal Finance
Mapped: The Income a Family Needs to Live Comfortably in Every U.S. State

Published 1 minute ago, on August 23, 2026, By Bruno Venditti, Design. Anna Diederichs

See the income a family needs to live comfortably in every U.S. state, from $188K in Mississippi to $330K in Massachusetts.

A family of four needs nearly $330,000 in annual income to live comfortably in Massachusetts in 2026, the highest
requirement in the country. Three states require incomes higher than $300,000: Massachusetts, Hawaii, and California.
Mississippi has the lowest threshold at about $188,000, roughly $142,000 less than Massachusetts.

How much does a family of four need to earn in your state?

This visualization maps the pre-tax annual income that a household with two working adults and two children needs to live comfortably in every U.S. state.

The data for this visualization comes from SmartAsset, with figures as of February 2026.

Comfortable living is based on a 50/30/20 budget, with 50% of earnings going toward necessities, 30% toward discretionary spending, and 20% toward savings or other financial goals. The figures therefore represent a budgeting standard rather than the minimum income needed to cover basic expenses.
Massachusetts Has the Highest Income Threshold

Massachusetts tops the ranking, with a family of four needing $329,555 per year to meet the 50/30/20 benchmark.

Hawaii follows at $313,165, while California ranks third at $302,682.
Rank

State

Income needed for family of four (2026)
1 Massachusetts $329,555
2 Hawaii $313,165
3 California $302,682
4 Connecticut $298,189
5 New Jersey $295,110
6 New York $291,533
7 Colorado $283,213
8 Washington $281,798
9 Oregon $280,966
10 Vermont $280,384
11 Alaska $272,064
12 New Hampshire $267,904
13 Rhode Island $264,659
14 Minnesota $263,078
15 Maryland $257,837
16 Maine $250,931
17 Montana $249,434

Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York aren’t far behind, bringing the number of states with comfortable-income thresholds above $290,000 to six. Colorado and Vermont Make the Top 10.

As expected, many of the highest income thresholds are concentrated in the Northeast and along the West Coast.

However, Colorado has the seventh-highest threshold in the country at $283,213, ranking above Washington and Oregon.

Vermont rounds out the top 10 at $280,384, despite having the second-smallest population of any U.S. state. Meanwhile, nearby states like New Hampshire, Maine, and Rhode Island all fall outside the top 10.

Continue/Read Original Article: Mapped: The Income a Family Needs to Live Comfortably in Every U.S. State