Making minimum wage anywhere in America doesn’t stretch far. In some states, it barely stretches at all. A new analysis from the finance platform MoneyLion finds that families in half the country need to earn around $30 an hour just to cover the basics. That works out to roughly $53,000 a year after taxes for a family of four — defined as a married couple with two kids, the oldest between 6 and 17.
And in no state can that family survive on less than $20 an hour. The study calculated the cost of necessities — housing, groceries, utilities, healthcare, and transportation — using data from the 2024 Consumer Expenditure Survey.
Hawaii Is in a League of Its Own
Hawaii requires the highest hourly wage in the country at $69.43 per hour. That’s $110,782 a year after taxes.
Here’s where the money goes:
- $62,903 for housing
- $12,505 for groceries
- $10,321 for healthcare
High housing costs do most of the damage, but everyday essentials aren’t cheap either. And if you’ve ever been to Hawaii and had to buy a loaf of bread, you know that to be true.
The Other States at the Top
Massachusetts comes in second. Families need $54.25 an hour, or $89,725 after taxes, to cover:
- $49,063 for housing
- $9,812 for groceries
- $10,788 for healthcare
In California, the required wage drops slightly to $46.22 per hour, or $79,367 annually after taxes. Costs break down like this:
- $38,298 for housing
- $10,301 for groceries
- $8,387 for healthcare
Even outside of Hawaii, housing remains the biggest expense by far.
The ‘Cheapest’ States Still Aren’t Cheap
At the other end of the list, only two states fall into the $25-an-hour range.
Mississippi families need $25.35 per hour, or $45,424 after taxes, to cover:
- $14,788 for housing
- $9,036 for groceries
- $7,541 for healthcare
In Oklahoma, the number is $25.65 per hour, or $45,620 annually after taxes, including:
- $14,304 for housing
- $9,074 for groceries
- $7,501 for healthcare
Even in the most affordable states, the living wage sits more than three times higher than the federal minimum wage.
How That Compares to Minimum Wage
Speaking of minimum wage, the federal minimum wage has remained at $7.25 an hour since 2009. Even the highest state-level minimum wage — $17.95 in Washington, D.C. — falls far below what families actually need to meet basic expenses. MoneyLion says the numbers highlight how difficult it can be for households earning at or near minimum wage to stay afloat.
What Families Can Do
Don’t have kids. Live in a shoebox of a house with roommates splitting rent. Okay, we’re kidding. That’s not realistic or sustainable (as I’m a married mom of four with a big, fat mortgage payment). For households earning less than what’s required to cover necessities, budgeting becomes less about optimization and more about survival. Financial experts recommend starting small instead of overhauling everything at once. Cutting one overspent category by 20% for a month can create momentum. Next month, trim another.
Subscription audits help. So does reducing restaurant spending and automating whatever savings you can carve out. Reviewing your budget monthly also makes patterns clearer and progress easier to track. None of that closes a $20-an-hour gap. But it can keep small deficits from turning into long-term debt.
Trending on Cheapism
More From Cheapism
- No, It’s Not Just You: Why Fixing Anything in Your House Now Costs a Small Fortune — Here are the biggest reasons why fixing your home has become so much more expensive — and why those prices may not be coming down anytime soon.
- What’s Your Most Expensive Bill? Child Care Tops the Cost of Rent for Many Americans Now — In more places than you’d expect, child care has officially leapfrogged rent as the biggest line item in a family’s monthly budget.
- The Average 50-Something Is Apparently Worth $1.4 Million, and We Have Questions — That $1.4 million figure is an average, not a median, and the difference matters more than ever in this lopsided economy.
