What’s considered a living wage in California? How much you need to make in 2026
From rising housing costs to increasing gas prices, California remains one of the most expensive states to live in the nation.
The income needed to comfortably cover basic expenses has continued to climb in 2026, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Living Wage Calculator.
While California’s minimum wage is $16.90 an hour — nearly $9 higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 — it falls short of what many residents need to make ends meet.
The MIT Living Wage Calculator estimates that a single adult with no children would need to earn about $30.48 an hour to afford necessities in California. That is nearly double the statewide minimum wage.
For a single parent with three children, living wage requirements jump to $90.66 an hour. That is more than five times the state minimum.
MIT defines a “living wage” as the hourly pay someone must earn while working full-time — 40 hours a week, or 2,080 hours a year — to cover essential costs such as housing, food, transportation and medical care.
Here’s a closer look at how the numbers break down:
What is considered a living wage in California in 2026?
“In households with two working adults, all hourly values reflect what one working adult requires to earn to meet their families’ basic needs, assuming the other adult also earns the same,” MIT said in its Feb. 15 report.
Here’s how much single people, couples and families with kids need to earn per hour to make a living wage in California in 2026, according to the MIT living wage calculator:
- Single adult with no children: $30.48
- Single adult with one child: $53.54
- Single adult with two children: $70.49
- Single adult with three children: $90.66
- Two working adults with no children: $19.68
- Two working adults with one child: $29.42
- Two working adults with two children: $36.38
- Two working adults with three children: $46.03
How much does it cost to live in California?
According to MIT, a single adult living alone in California needs to earn at least $63,402 a year before taxes to cover basic living expenses.
Meanwhile, a household with two working adults and three children would need a minimum annual income of $191,494 to cover the basics including food, child care, transportation and medical costs.
How much can I expect to spend living in California?
The cost of living in California continues to climb.
Nationwide, consumer prices increased by 2.4% and food prices went up by 2.9% over the past 12 months, as of January 2026, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Living wage requirements have increased across California since February 2025, according to MIT’s living wage calculator.
For example, a single adult with no children now needs to earn $1.76 more per hour than last year’s $28.72 rate just to cover basic living expenses.
On average, a single adult in California spends about $51,416 per year on basic needs such as housing, food, transportation and health care, according to MIT.
For a household with two working adults and three children, annual living expenses jump to roughly $153,884.
What’s the living wage in my California county?
If you’re wondering how much you need to earn to live in your part of California, you can search for living wage estimates by county or metropolitan area using MIT’s online Living Wage Calculator.
You can select your California county or metropolitan area to see wage estimates and cost breakdowns specific to where you live.
How does MIT calculate living wages in the US?
MIT developed the living wage calculator in 2003 to comprehensively estimate the employment earnings that a full-time worker requires to cover or support the costs of their family’s basic needs where they live.
The calculator features geographically-specific costs for food, child care, health care, housing, transportation and other basic needs as well as taxes at the county, metropolitan area and state levels for 12 different family types.
MIT said it looked at living wage estimates for a total of 3,143 counties to “account for the geographic variation in costs” across the United States, as well as 384 metropolitan statistical areas and 50 states plus Washington, D.C.
The data came from sources including the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Agriculture and Department of Housing and Urban Development.
MIT said the living wage calculator was updated on Sunday, Feb. 15.
