Financial stability may be harder to come by as the prices of consumer goods continue rising throughout the U.S.
After all, how much do you need to earn to live comfortably as a single adult in 2024? That question was the broad subject of a recent analysis from financial technology company SmartAsset, which studied the basic costs of living for single working adults in each state.
SmartAsset fueled its analysis by using the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Living Wage Calculator and applying the 50/30/20 rule, which recommends spending roughly 50% of a person’s income on basic needs like food and shelter while spending 30% on “wants” and desires and using the rest to pay off debts and grow savings accounts. The effort’s resulting analysis produced estimates of hourly wages and yearly salaries that would allow single adults and two-parent, two-child families to live comfortably in the U.S., plus rankings for all 50 states.
Here’s what you need to know about the study’s findings for Kentucky, the Lexington area and beyond.
How expensive is it to live comfortably in Kentucky?
Throughout the Bluegrass State, a single working adult must earn at least $80,704 per year — or $38.80 per hour — to cover basic needs, fund common desires and properly sustain savings, according to SmartAsset’s report. That figure ties Kentucky with Ohio, which both rank as the fifth-cheapest states in the country between South Dakota ($81,453 per year) and North Dakota ($80,538).
SmartAsset’s analysis suggests the average family with two working adults raising a pair of children must make at least $190,112 per year to live comfortably in Kentucky. Overall, that also gives the commonwealth the fifth-cheapest figure, placing it between South Dakota ($192,608 per year) and Louisiana ($189,613).
Locally, single working adults with no children must make at least $19.23 per hour to support themselves with a living wage in Fayette County, according to the MIT Living Wage Calculator. Two adults supporting two children in the area should make at least $23.57 per hour to support the family with a living wage, the online tool suggests.
Broadly, most necessities in the U.S. have grown more expensive over the past year.
The cost of all measured consumer goods and services rose 3.5% over that 12-month span, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index. Overall food prices increased by about 2.2% over the year, while shelter (up 5.7%) and gasoline (1.3%) also saw hikes. Transportation services, up roughly 10.7% over the past 12 months, saw the largest price increase of any measured category in that span.
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How does the rest of the country compare?
According to SmartAsset’s analysis, no state has a higher estimated cost of living than Massachusetts, where a single adult needs to earn at least $116,022 a year (or $55.78 per hour) to live comfortably. Hawaii ($113,693 per year) and California ($113,651 per year) follow closely behind as the second- and third-most expensive states for single working adults without children.
West Virginia requires a $78,790 salary to allow a single working adult to meet all basics, wants and needs and is estimated as the cheapest state in the country. Arkansas ($79,456) and Oklahoma ($80,413) round out the cheapest states in that regard, SmartAsset suggests.
Mississippi is estimated as the cheapest state for a two-parent, two-child family to live comfortably ($177,798), while Massachusetts ($301,184) again claimed the most expensive state in this category.
Read up on SmartAsset’s full study by visiting smartasset.com/data-studies/state-salary-living-comfortably-2024. You can visit livingwage.mit.edu to explore living wage statistics for states, counties and metropolitan areas across the country.
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