@jjg-re our periodic discussion about the cost of living in US.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/14/how-much-money-a-family-of-four-needs-to-live-comfortably-in-all-50-states.htmlAn eye-opening article.
Here is the kicker:
US median household makes about 80K/year (per article), yet "a family of four needs at least $186,618 a year to
live comfortably* in Mississippi in 2025, the country’s most affordable state, found a SmartAsset study that published on June 4."
Later it shows data for all 50 states (from the aforementioned $186618 to $313747 in Massachusetts).
Wowza!
* live comfortably
“Living comfortably” means having enough income to dedicate 50% to necessary costs, 30% to discretionary wants and 20% to debt payments and saving, also known as following the 50/30/20 budget, according to the study.
EDIT: An easy calculation shows that in the
cheapest state 50% (which is defined as "necessary costs") of 186618 is $93309, which is 13k HIGHER than the median family income country-wide.
Is there anything like a poverty treshold in the US?
In my here parts, it's actually defined at about $1400 per month, adjusted to inflation every year, which is roughly $17k pa.
For a family of 4 (depending on age of the family members) this value is rising in a slightly non-linear fashion, but even if you multiply $17k by 4 ($68k) it's 2.5 times less than "living comfortably" in the cheapest state.
I'd like to see this numbers compared to past times, let's say within the last 30 years, with like 5 or 10 year intervals.
This would give some clue about the real inflationary effects over time.
EDIT: The median is quite close to my local poverty treshold, so you could say that a noticeable percentage of families is fighting poverty nowadays?
The US department of Health and Human Services sets annual guidelines for poverty. I got interested in this because while visiting certain parts of the US, I would see people paying for groceries in ways that seemed odd (to me) - one time the guy in front of us had a few things and handed the cashier an 8.5X11 folded letter for payment. After she opened and read it, she told him he wasn't allowed to get cigarettes as well and to go back and get more grocery items because the letter he had was intended for one-time use (she was going to have to keep it) and there would be no money given for the unused allowance. Then I would see other people using what I thought were debit or credit cards but they would get into a discussion about "allowable items" - one person wanted to buy a prepared hot meal but was not allowed to use a particular card so I knew then it couldn't have been a bank card. Anyway, turns out there's a program called SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) in the USA which is administered federally but tailored at the state level. I believe all states use criteria based on the HHS (Health and Human Services) poverty guidelines which are:
| Family/Household Size | Contiguous States & D.C. | Alaska | Hawai‘i |
| 1 | $15,650 | $19,550 | $17,990 |
| 2 | $21,150 | $26,430 | $24,320 |
| 3 | $26,650 | $33,310 | $30,650 |
| 4 | $32,150 | $40,190 | $36,980 |
| 5 | $37,650 | $47,070 | $43,310 |
| 6 | $43,150 | $53,950 | $49,640 |
| 7 | $48,650 | $60,830 | $55,970 |
| 8 | $54,150 | $67,710 | $62,300 |
| More than 8 | Add $5,500 per additional person | Add $6,880 per additional person | Add $6,330 per additional person |
yeah dirt poor people get food handouts and medical care.
in NJ the minimum wage is now 16 dollars an hour
so 40 hour week is 640 or 33,000 a year.
but companies simply make the person work 24 hours. which is 33,000x.60=19,800 take taxes out and you are at
14,000 which is poverty in every state so you get snap and medicaid.
stores keep you are 24 hours because they can then refuse to give you medical.
which means the state gets stuck giving you snap and medicaid.
so the rich (stores)get over saving those costs. by limiting your hours.
the working poor get pushed down
and the middle class pay for it. as our taxes go up to cover the snap and the medicaid.
I take home my wife and i. take home after income tax and health insurance. about 95k
sounds good.
but
electric bill
water bill
sewer bill
phone bill
internet bill
property tax
house insurance
flood insurance
car insurance
food
clothes
car cost
random house repairs
all of the above are pretty much what I have to pay
then cable
streaming
restaurants
drinking better whisky
travel
are luxury and
I limit all of them
travel