A report recently released by SmartAsset tackled the topic of how much income is needed to ‘live comfortably’ in states around the US and the data analysis determined that Coloradans need to earn the sixth-most nationwide.

The analysis was conducted under the basis that in order to ‘live comfortably’ someone should be able to follow the 50-30-20 budget rule, which basically means that a person spends 50 percent of income on basic needs, 30 percent on wants, and 20 percent on savings and paying off debt.

Massachusetts ended up at the top of the list, with the salary needed for a single working adult to live comfortably coming in at $116,022. Colorado, however, wasn’t far behind – one of 11 states where a six-digit salary is needed.

In Colorado, for a single working adult to live comfortably, they’ll need a salary of $103,293 – an hourly wage of $49.66. In a family where there’s two working adults who are also raising two children, that number jumps to a total income of $264,992. Keep in mind that Colorado’s minimum wage is currently $14.42.

Meanwhile, the least expensive state for ‘comfortable’ living was determined to be West Virginia, where the salary needed by a single working adult looking to follow the 50-30-20 rule was $78,790, or $37.88 hourly.

If these numbers are indeed accurate, it means that most Americans can’t afford to ‘live comfortably’ while following the 50-30-20 rule, with the median nationwide income for a working individual coming in at about $40,000 in 2022. In Colorado, that number is a little higher, but not by much – $47,346.

In other words, with most Coloradans making much less than what’s needed to live comfortably, many are forced to spend less on ‘wants’ and on savings and debts.

Find the full SmartAsset report here.

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