The income a family of 4 needs to live comfortably in every state

The most expensive state to raise a family of four isn’t New York, California or Hawaii — it’s Massachusetts, according to a recent SmartAsset study.

To live comfortably in Massachusetts, a family of two working adults and two kids would need to earn $301,184 annually.

“Comfortable” is defined as the income needed to cover a 50/30/20 budget for a family of four. The budget allocates 50% of your earnings for necessities such as housing and utility costs, 30% for discretionary spending and 20% for savings or investments.

SmartAsset extrapolated the income needed for a 50/30/20 budget based on the cost of necessities, using data from the MIT Living Wage Calculator.

Here’s a look at how much income a family of four needs to live comfortably in the five most-expensive states: 

1. Massachusetts: $301,184
2. Hawaii: $294,611
3. Connecticut: $279,885
4. New York: $278,970
5. California: $276,723

While most of these states are known for high housing costs, Massachusetts also has higher total costs for other categories, such as child care, food and medical expenses, according to the MIT Living Wage Calculator.

In contrast to these states, Mississippi is the least-expensive state to raise a family, requiring only $177,798 per year in annual income. The median for the U.S. as a whole is $213,782.

As a general trend, more rural U.S. states have lower costs compared with states home to numerous large cities, such as California and New York — especially when it comes to housing.

But rural states tend to have lower wages, too. The median annual wage for workers in Mississippi is $37,500, compared with $56,840 in New York, for example, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. 

As a result, some of the higher costs of living in urban states are offset through higher wages. 

Here’s a look at the income needed for a family of four to live comfortably in each state, listed in alphabetical order.