A comfortable lifestyle on $20 an hour is achievable in 15 U.S. states with the lowest cost of living.

According to a recent SmartAsset analysis, you would need an annual income of $40,000 as a single person to cover basic expenses in the cheapest U.S. states.

According to the MIT Living Wage calculator, a one-person household in West Virginia requires a pre-tax income of $39,386 to cover essential expenses such as housing, transportation, healthcare, taxes, and other necessities. West Virginia has the lowest cost of living among the states, with Arkansas and Oklahoma following closely behind.

While the median American yearly wage for full-time workers is nearly $60,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, minimum wage workers in many of the least-expensive U.S. states earn significantly less. For instance, West Virginia's $8.75 hourly minimum wage translates to just $18,200 per year with a 40-hour workweek.

The 15 U.S. states with the lowest cost of living for a single person are listed based on their basic expenses.

1. West Virginia: $39,386
2. Arkansas: $39,724
3. Oklahoma: $40,211
4. North Dakota: $40,262
5. Kentucky: $40,355
6. Ohio: $40,359
7. South Dakota: $40,718
8. Louisiana: $41,233
9. Mississippi: $41,361
10. Iowa: $41,678
11. New Mexico: $41,807
12. Nebraska: $41,849
13. Alabama: $41,911
14. Missouri: $42,024
15. Wisconsin: $42,062

The hourly wage for a single person in Massachusetts, based on a 40-hour workweek and an annual salary of $58,009, is approximately $28.

Although rural states have lower expenses, they also typically have lower salaries. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' most recent data from 2022, the median household income in West Virginia is $52,460, compared with $75,910 in New York.

The variation in fundamental expenses among states is mainly because of housing, which is generally least expensive in rural areas. In contrast, urban regions provide more employment opportunities, drawing in more inhabitants, and this results in higher housing costs.

In contrast to the 15 least expensive states where annual housing costs are approximately half of $20,000, heavily urban states like California and New York have housing costs that are almost $20,000.

Rural states typically have lower taxes than urban areas due to reduced expenses in public services and infrastructure. According to SmartAsset's analysis, the tax difference between states ranges from $5,000 to $10,000 annually.

The Living Wage calculator at MIT uses information from multiple federal agencies, adjusted for inflation until December 2023.

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