With the cost of living continuing to rise in the U.S., an individual needs $5,844 more this year than last year to live comfortably and a family of four needs $9,360 more, according to an analysis by SmartAsset.
SmartAsset used MIT’s 2025 Living Wage Calculator to gather the basic costs of living for individuals and families, and applied it to a formula that consists of 50% of income going to necessities, 30% to discretionary spending and 20% to long-term financial goals.
Living comfortably, according to SmartAsset, is “being able to afford hobbies, vacations, retirement savings, education funds and the occasional emergency.”
Here’s what to know about how much money is needed to live comfortably in Wisconsin:
What’s the income needed to live comfortably in Wisconsin?
For a single adult living in Wisconsin, an annual salary of $87,194 is needed to live comfortably. That ranks 37th, making Wisconsin one of the more affordable places to live.
The income needed for a four-person family in Wisconsin to live comfortably is $225,555, which ranks 24th.
Last year, the salary needed to live comfortably for a single adult in Wisconsin was $84,115, and for a four-person family, it was $225,056.
Most expensive states for a single adult to live comfortably
Most expensive states for a four-person family to live comfortably
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Here’s how much money you need to live comfortably in Wisconsin, and what that means
Reporting by Rose Androwich, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
