This is How Much You Need to Make to Live Comfortably in Michigan (2024)

Many a millennial has worked their way into a middle-America income just to realize that it's barely above the poverty line these days. The rate of inflation has caught up to us all and just getting from one paycheck to the next can be a stress.

An estimated 78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. If you're reading this, odds are, you fall into that group. To be a part of that other 22% would mean you either don't have a paycheck or you're living quite comfortably.

Living comfortably sounds like a pipe dream, and even then it carries a broad definition. For some comfort just means assurance the bills are paid, for others to be able to buy wants as they come without sacrificing on bills and the most extreme is somewhere in the ballpark of having every need and want met instantly.

And even then, every state has its own cost and standard of living and everyone has their own circ*mstances such as whether they are single or married with children.

SmartAsset made it clear that their model of comfort in determining the income needed in each state to live comfortably followed the 50/30/20 rule: 50% of income goes towards housing, food and needs / 30% goes towards wants / 20% goes into savings.

Keep in mind, Michigan has a below-average cost of living, 4% lower than the national average with housing costs 10% lower. Still, to live comfortably with the 50/30/20 rule, you'd need to make quite a bit of money to live comfortably in the Mitten State.

For a single working adult to live comfortably, they need to make$84,365 per year, or$40.56 per hour. This is the 15th-lowest dollar amount needed to live comfortably in the country. According to ZipRecruiter, the average salary in Michigan is $49,560, so most of us aren't even close to living comfortably according to the data.

For a family of four, two working adults and two children, the joint salary needs to be $214,490. According to Income By Zip Code, only8.2% of Michigan households make more than $200,000 per year. The average household salary is$92,835.

But that's to live comfortably, to live without worry. Unfortunately, that is possible for everyone. So how about just enough to get by? The gallery below details the minimum salary needed to get by in every state, including Michigan.