(CNBC) You’ll need to earn nearly $60,000 annually to live alone in Massachusetts, the most expensive state in the U.S. when it comes to basic costs, according to a recent SmartAsset analysis.
That figure includes estimates for how much a single-person household needs to cover housing, transportation, health care, taxes and other common expenses, as tracked by the MIT Living Wage calculator.
These expenses vary widely by state, however, especially housing, taxes and food. The biggest spread in annual cost for a single-person household is $58,009 in Massachusetts compared with $39,386 in West Virginia.
Based on a 40-hour work week, that works out to an hourly wage of about $28 in Massachusetts and about $19 in West Virginia needed to cover basic expenses.
Here’s a look at the 15 U.S. states with the highest cost of living, based on how much a single person needs to cover basic costs:
- Massachusetts: $58,009
- Hawaii: $56,841
- California: $56,825
- New York: $55,878
- Washington: $53,242
- Colorado: $51,644
- New Jersey: $51,504
- Maryland: $51,460
- Oregon: $50,553
- Rhode Island: $50,418
- Connecticut: $50,194
- Virginia: $49,973
- New Hampshire: $49,045
- Arizona: $48,677
- Georgia: $48,448