Living Wage Calculator
What does your household actually need to earn to cover basic costs in your state? Pick your state and family type — get the hourly wage MIT's model says is required. State-level baseline from MIT's data; for county precision, link below to MIT directly.
How to use this calculator
- Pick your state.
- Pick your household type — number of adults, how many of them work, number of children.
- Optionally enter your current hourly wage to see the gap.
- The result shows the hourly wage one full-time worker needs to support that household at MIT's "basic needs" standard (housing, food, childcare, healthcare, transportation, taxes). At 2,080 hours/year (full-time) that converts to an annual figure.
"Both working" results show per-adult wage — meaning each adult needs to earn that hourly rate to support the household together. The total household income would be roughly double.
How the math works
MIT's model bundles the cost of housing, food, child care, transportation, health care, civic engagement, broadband, "other necessities," and taxes — then divides by full-time working hours. It's a "basic needs" floor, not a "comfortable life" number. It assumes no debt service, no retirement saving, no emergencies. Read it as "what you need to break even on essentials," not "what you need to thrive."
Tips
- County variation is large. Living wage for a single adult in rural Mississippi might be $17/hr; in San Francisco County it's over $35/hr — both within the "California $28.72 statewide" range. The state-level number on this calculator is an average; your actual cost depends heavily on your specific county. For county precision, visit livingwage.mit.edu directly.
- Living wage ≠ comfortable salary. MIT's living wage is the floor — basic needs only, no savings, no retirement, no buffer. SmartAsset and others apply the 50/30/20 budget rule to MIT's number (need × 2) to derive a "comfortable" salary that includes wants and savings. That comfortable number is roughly 2× the MIT living wage.
- The biggest cost driver is childcare. Single parents face the steepest wages because childcare is genuinely expensive — often the largest line item in MIT's budget. Two-working-adult households share childcare costs across two paychecks, which is why the per-adult living wage drops sharply when both work.
- Living wage doesn't equal minimum wage. Every state's living wage is well above the federal $7.25 minimum, and above most state minimums too. The gap is the political case for raising minimum wage — and the practical case for many workers to seek roles at, or near, the living-wage line.
- Use this in salary negotiations carefully. "I need a living wage" is true but rarely persuasive to an employer. Better framing: "Here's the market rate for this role" (with data) or "Here's what my output is worth to the company." Living-wage data is supporting context, not the headline argument.
Frequently asked questions
What is a living wage?
The hourly wage a full-time worker (2,080 hrs/year) must earn to cover their household's basic needs — housing, food, childcare, healthcare, transportation, broadband, civic engagement, plus the taxes on that income. It's a basic-needs floor, NOT a comfortable salary. Developed by Dr. Amy Glasmeier and team at MIT, the model is updated annually.
Why is this just an estimate — can't you give me an exact number?
Living-wage data is collected and published at the county level by MIT. There are over 3,000 US counties, and the variation within a single state can be huge (rural vs metro, low-cost vs high-cost neighborhoods). Our calculator uses a state-level average. For exact county precision, go to livingwage.mit.edu and select your specific county.
Is the living wage the same as the minimum wage?
No. The federal minimum wage is $7.25/hr and most state minimums are between $7.25 and $17/hr. MIT's living wage is what you actually need to cover basic costs — and is always higher than the minimum, typically 2-4× higher. The gap is what people mean when they say minimum wage isn't a living wage.
Why does the living wage drop so much when both adults work?
Because childcare costs (a huge line item) get split across two paychecks, and certain fixed costs like housing don't double when you add a second adult to a working household. MIT shows that two adults working full-time can cover a 2-kid family with about $22-25/hr each in most states — much less per person than a single parent earning $60+/hr by themselves.
How does this differ from the comfortable salary numbers I see in news articles?
Most news "comfortable salary by state" articles (SmartAsset's annual study, for instance) take MIT's living wage and double it, applying a 50/30/20 budget rule (50% needs, 30% wants, 20% savings). That gets you a comfortable salary that allows for some discretionary spending and savings. The MIT living wage is just the 50% part — needs only. Our calculator shows the MIT number; news headlines usually show 2× that.
Can I use this for a salary negotiation?
Carefully. Saying "I need a living wage" is true but rarely persuasive to employers — they hire at the market rate, not based on your costs. Use living-wage data as supporting context ("Even MIT's basic-needs floor is $X here, and I'm asking for market rate of $Y"). The argument that actually moves negotiations is market data — Glassdoor, Levels.fyi, salary.com — paired with your own evidence of value delivered.