Here's How Much A Single Person Needs To Make To Live In VA

VIRGINIA — Residents in the Commonwealth have seen prices go up for groceries and housing, with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics calculating that the price of all items rose 3.2 percent since this time last year.

And the living wage needed for a single person has also increased — up to $57,293 in Virginia, according to a recent financial analysis.

GOBankingRates, a personal finance news and information website, surveyed annual living expenses for a single person in all 50 states — ranging from $112,411 in Hawaii to $45,906 in Mississippi — and ranked states by the annual amount residents need to pull in to cover their bills and other expenses.

Virginia came in at 32nd place, the study found, with about two-thirds of the states requiring a lower living wage in order to make ends meet.

This study derived the cost of necessities from the 2021 Consumer Expenditure Survey data, and from the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center’s 2023 Q1 Cost of Living Data Series. Then, researchers doubled the annual cost of necessities to get a final amount that also factors in discretionary saving and spending. This amount represents the annual income one person would need to make a living in each state.

According to the study, the top five states with the highest income needed for a single person to earn a living wage are:

1. Hawaii: $112,411
2. Massachusetts: $87,909
3. California: $80,013
4. New York: $73,226
5. Alaska: $80,013

The states with the lowest income needed for a single person to earn a living wage are:

1. Mississippi: $45,906
2. Oklahoma: $46,024
3. Alabama: $46,577
4. Arkansas: $47,111
5. Kentucky: $47,318