The salary you need, state by state
What it costs to live the way $75,000 does in an average state, in all 50 states.
$123,525
needed in Hawaii to match $75,000 in an average state, against $58,800 in Missouri
#the-rangeWhat these figures assume
- The baseline is $75,000 in a state of average cost. The figures are what buys the same lifestyle elsewhere.
- This is a cost comparison, not a wage survey. It does not say what employers in a state pay, and in several states those two numbers are far apart.
- It is a state-level index. The gap between a city and a rural county in one state is often larger than the gap between two states.
- Built on the BLISS method, from public data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Census and the Tax Foundation.
All 50 states, most expensive first
| State | Salary needed to match $75,000 | BLISS score | Cost vs average | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | $123,525 | 1.647 | +65% | # |
| California | $114,600 | 1.528 | +53% | # |
| Massachusetts | $112,500 | 1.500 | +50% | # |
| Newyork | $103,800 | 1.384 | +38% | # |
| Newjersey | $92,925 | 1.239 | +24% | # |
| Vermont | $90,975 | 1.213 | +21% | # |
| Connecticut | $88,950 | 1.186 | +19% | # |
| Colorado | $87,375 | 1.165 | +17% | # |
| Oregon | $86,475 | 1.153 | +15% | # |
| Alaska | $85,875 | 1.145 | +15% | # |
| Rhodeisland | $84,975 | 1.133 | +13% | # |
| Maine | $84,750 | 1.130 | +13% | # |
| Washington | $83,475 | 1.113 | +11% | # |
| Newhampshire | $82,575 | 1.101 | +10% | # |
| Maryland | $82,050 | 1.094 | +9% | # |
| Delaware | $78,900 | 1.052 | +5% | # |
| Arizona | $77,475 | 1.033 | +3% | # |
| Utah | $76,125 | 1.015 | +1% | # |
| Nevada | $76,050 | 1.014 | +1% | # |
| Montana | $75,225 | 1.003 | +0% | # |
| Virginia | $75,000 | 1.000 | +0% | # |
| Minnesota | $74,850 | 0.998 | +0% | # |
| Wisconsin | $74,100 | 0.988 | -1% | # |
| Florida | $73,575 | 0.981 | -2% | # |
| Illinois | $73,425 | 0.979 | -2% | # |
| Pennsylvania | $71,100 | 0.948 | -5% | # |
| Northcarolina | $70,950 | 0.946 | -5% | # |
| Wyoming | $70,500 | 0.940 | -6% | # |
| Idaho | $69,675 | 0.929 | -7% | # |
| Georgia | $68,175 | 0.909 | -9% | # |
| Iowa | $68,100 | 0.908 | -9% | # |
| Newmexico | $67,875 | 0.905 | -9% | # |
| Kansas | $67,800 | 0.904 | -10% | # |
| Nebraska | $67,350 | 0.898 | -10% | # |
| Westvirginia | $66,600 | 0.888 | -11% | # |
| Texas | $66,375 | 0.885 | -12% | # |
| Ohio | $65,775 | 0.877 | -12% | # |
| Southcarolina | $65,700 | 0.876 | -12% | # |
| Indiana | $65,325 | 0.871 | -13% | # |
| Michigan | $64,350 | 0.858 | -14% | # |
| Tennessee | $63,600 | 0.848 | -15% | # |
| Northdakota | $63,300 | 0.844 | -16% | # |
| Southdakota | $63,075 | 0.841 | -16% | # |
| Kentucky | $62,700 | 0.836 | -16% | # |
| Louisiana | $61,875 | 0.825 | -18% | # |
| Mississippi | $60,600 | 0.808 | -19% | # |
| Alabama | $60,150 | 0.802 | -20% | # |
| Arkansas | $59,325 | 0.791 | -21% | # |
| Oklahoma | $58,950 | 0.786 | -21% | # |
| Missouri | $58,800 | 0.784 | -22% | # |
How to cite this
Best Life Index, The salary you need, state by state, 2026. https://bestlifeindex.com/stats/salary-needed-by-state
Free to use with credit and a link. If you need the underlying numbers rather than this page, every figure here comes from a file you can download.
Where these numbers come from
Each figure is the state's BLISS score multiplied by $75,000. The method, including the weightings and what the score does and does not capture, is on the BLISS methodology page, and the underlying numbers are in the open dataset.
To run it on your own salary rather than the $75,000 baseline, use the BLISS calculator.