California is among 10 priciest states. How much do you need to live comfortably?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- SmartAsset's 2025 study ranks California third most costly for single adults.
- A single person needs about $119,475 annually to sustain comfort in 2025.
- Families of four in California require roughly $287,456 yearly.
It’s no secret that living in California doesn’t come cheap.
In fact, the Golden State is among the most expensive places in the United States to live comfortably, according to a recent study by personal finance website SmartAsset.
California ranked third on SmartAsset’s list of the priciest states in the nation based on income needs for individuals and fourth for families.
“As cost of living increases seem to permanently make their way to important budget items, individuals and families increasingly need more income to support a comfortable lifestyle over the long-term,” SmartAsset said in an June 4 article titled “The Salary It Takes to Live Comfortably in Each U.S. State.”
That “comfortable lifestyle” means having enough money not just for essentials such as housing, food, gas and healthcare — but also for extras including vacations, retirement savings, education and unexpected emergencies, the study said.
How much do you need to live comfortably in California?
Here’s what SmartAsset’s 2025 study found:
What’s the most expensive state in US to live comfortably?
According to SmartAsset, Hawaii is the most expensive state for a single adult to live comfortably.
In 2025, a single person needs to earn about $124,467 a year to cover essentials, enjoy a few perks, save for the future and pay taxes.
That’s a jump of nearly 10% from 2024, when the same lifestyle required an annual income around $113,693.
Hawaii ranks second in the country in terms of the states where families need the highest incomes to live comfortably.
A family of four would need to earn about $294,362 a year to live comfortably in Hawaii in 2025, according to SmartAsset’s latest study.
In comparison, living comfortably in Hawaii cost a family about $294,611 annually, SmartAsset found.
How much do individuals, families need to earn to live comfortably in California?
California was the third most expensive state for a single adult to live comfortably, according to SmartAsset.
In 2025, a single person needs to earn about $119,475 a year to cover essentials, satisfy some wants, pay taxes and set aside some savings.
This is a 5% increase from the previous year, when $113,651 in annual income was needed for comfortable living.
California was fourth in the country in terms of the states where families need the most money to maintain a comfortable lifestyle, SmartAsset found.
A family of four would need a yearly income of roughly $287,456 to live comfortably in 2025, an increase of nearly 4% from $276,723 in 2024.
What are the top 10 most expensive states for singles? Families?
Here are the top 10 most expensive states for single adults to live comfortably, according to SmartAsset:
- 1. Hawaii
- 2. Massachusetts
- 3. California
- 4. New York
- 5. Washington
- 6. New Jersey
- 7. Maryland
- 8. Virginia
- 9. Colorado
- 10. Connecticut
The top 10 most expensive states for families are:
- 1. Massachusetts
- 2. Hawaii
- 3. Connecticut
- 4. California
- 5. Vermont
- 6. New Jersey
- 7. Washington
- 8. New York
- 9. Colorado
- 10. Oregon
What are the top 10 cheapest states for singles and families?
These were the top 10 cheapest states for single adults to live comfortably in 2025, the SmartAsset study found:
- 1. West Virginia
- 2. Arkansas
- 3. South Dakota
- 4. North Dakota
- 5. Kentucky
- 6. Oklahoma
- 7. Ohio
- 8. Alabama
- 9. Louisiana
- 10. Mississippi
According to SmartAsset, these are the 10 least expensive states for families in 2025:
- 1. Mississippi
- 2. Kentucky
- 3. Arkansas
- 4. Alabama
- 5. West Virginia
- 6. South Dakota
- 7. Louisiana
- 8. Kansas
- 9. Tennessee
- 10. Iowa
How did SmartAsset come up with its findings?
SmartAsset used data from MIT’s Living Wage Calculator to figure out the basic cost of living for a single adult with no children and for a family with two working adults and two kids.
This includes essentials such as housing, food, transportation, taxes and other necessary expenses, updated with the latest data, as of Feb. 10.
Using the 50/30/20 budgeting rule, SmartAsset assumed these essential costs make up 50% of your budget.
The site then calculated how much income a person or family would need in total so they could also spend 30% on wants and set aside 20% for savings or debt payments.
