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If you want to know how much money you need to make to be happy living in California, the simple answer is "a lot."
A study from Purdue University and GoBankingRates.com found that you need a minimum annual salary of $145,635 to be happy in California, citing "California’s notoriously high cost of living." The number is down slightly from 2022, where it cited a salary of $149,310 to be happy living in California.
"While California’s staggering 16.3% unemployment rate at the height of the pandemic has come down, 4.1% is still among the highest in the nation," GOBankingRates stated.
"Globally, we find that satiation occurs at $95,000 for life evaluation and $60,000 to $75,000 for emotional well-being," said the study’s authors in the journal. The study also noted that the ideal income for "life satisfaction" in North America is $105,000.
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"It’s important to keep in mind, though, that ‘happiness’ is subjective. The cost to live comfortably can vary from person to person," GOBankingRates noted.
Which states require a higher salary than California in order to be happy? Only New York and Hawaii. In New York, the minimum salary needed to be happy is $142,485. Whereas in Hawaii, you need to be making over $195,300 in order to be happy, the survey found.
Among the states with the lowest salary needed to be happy were Mississippi, Kansas, Oklahoma and Alabama, though with the rising costs due to inflation, every state requires over $92,000 annual salary in order to live happily.
GOBankingRates said it determined the cost-of-living-adjusted minimum salary needed to be happy based on income satiation levels identified by Purdue University researchers. It also factored in each city’s cost of living index, unemployment rate, as well as property and violent crime rates.
