Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

General

  • What is a living wage?

    A living wage is what one full-time worker must earn on an hourly basis to cover the cost of their family’s minimum basic needs where they live without additional public or private assistance.

  • What typical expenses are included in the Living Wage Calculator’s estimates?

    The Living Wage Calculator’s estimate of living wage includes eight typical expenses or basic needs—childcare, civic engagement, food, health care, housing, internet and mobile, transportation, and other necessities. In addition to these basic needs, the Calculator also accounts for income and payroll tax costs for each family.

  • What geographies is data available for?

    The Living Wage Calculator currently publishes estimates for Counties, Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), and States in the United States. We do not publish the national-level living wage estimates on the Living Wage Calculator since this data is meant to be used at a highly localized level.

  • How many family types are available?

    Currently, there are 12 different family types available, which vary by the number of working adults and children.

  • How often is the data updated?

    The living wage, typical expenses, poverty wage, minimum wage, and typical salaries by occupation are updated annually—by the end of the first quarter of the year—using the best available data as of December 31 of the previous year. Since states and municipalities change their minimum wages on an irregular and inconsistent basis, these values may be further adjusted over the course of the year to reflect the latest minimum wage statutes and ordinances.

  • Why does the minimum wage not reflect the current minimum wage in my community?

    Local minimum wage laws are frequently enacted at the city level, creating situations where multiple minimum wages may exist within a single county. Because our living wage data is produced at the county level, we report county-level minimum wages where available and include city-level rates only when the city and county boundaries align perfectly. Otherwise, data reflects the state-level minimum wage. Additionally, since states and municipalities change their minimum wages on an irregular and inconsistent basis, these values may not always reflect the latest minimum wage statutes and ordinances.

  • When was the data updated?

    The data was last updated on February 15, 2026.

Data Requests

  • Can I scrape the living wage data?

    This tool was developed to help individuals, communities, employers, and other users understand the local wage rate that allows residents to meet minimum standards of living. If you plan on using 10 or fewer locations worth of data, you may use it directly off the web, taking care to cite it as: Living wage data sourced from the Living Wage Institute via https://livingwage.mit.edu. If you want to use data for more than 10 locations at once, please do not scrape, extract, or export the data available on the site. Instead, please submit a request to license the data via the contact form, and a member of the Living Wage Institute team will follow up with you.

  • How can I get a copy of the data in tabular (spreadsheet) format?

    Do not scrape, extract, or export the data on the Living Wage Calculator website. If you are interested in licensing the data, please submit a request via the contact form.

Methodology

  • Where can I learn more about the methodology for calculating a living wage?

    Please visit the Methodology page for a brief explainer on the living wage and how it is calculated. For a deeper look at the data’s methodology, please read the technical documentation produced by the Living Wage Institute.

  • Where does the cost data for typical expenses come from?

    The living wage estimates made available through the Living Wage Calculator leverage publicly available, geographically-specific expenditure data to estimate the costs associated with each basic need. Please see the table on the Methodology page for a full list of sources.

  • Where are the typical annual salary numbers sourced from?

    The typical annual salary information is sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) dataset. The OEWS data provides employment and annual wage estimates for each North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) industry code and its underlying occupation. The tool uses the annual mean wage data for the major occupational groups at the State, National, and—where available—Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) levels as a comparative reference for the living wage estimates.

  • Do the living wage estimates account for state or local income taxes?

    The model accounts for state income taxes but not local taxes. The cost of income and payroll taxes to families is calculated using Policy Engine's tax microsimulation model of the U.S. federal and state income tax system and verified against the National Bureau of Economic Research’s TAXSIM. Find additional details about which taxes are included in the living wage estimates on the Methodology page.

  • Do the living wage estimates include a reasonable amount of savings and leisure expenditures or go beyond a subsistence wage?

    No, the living wage model currently does not factor in savings, leisure expenditures, emergency expenses, or other cost categories beyond basic needs.

  • How are health care costs calculated?

    Health care costs are inclusive of two different expenses: (1) premiums associated with employer-sponsored health insurance plans and (2) out-of-pocket expenses for medical services, drugs, and medical supplies. The premiums account for an employee’s typical payments towards their employer-sponsored health insurance coverage. However, we do not provide disaggregated premium and out-of-pocket expenses in the publicly available data. If you are interested in learning more about how employer contributions to health insurance premiums may impact the living wage estimates, please reach out to the Living Wage Institute via the contact form.

  • Why are childcare costs $0 for some family types with children?

    For family types where there are two adults in a family and only one works, our model assumes the other adult provides childcare instead of paying for center-based care. We acknowledge this approach may underestimate the full costs these families face, as it does not account for the direct costs of providing care at home, the opportunity costs of foregone employment, or the difficult economic choices families make between paid work and caregiving.

This Year’s versus Last Year’s Data

  • What are the biggest differences between this year’s and last year’s data?

    To learn more about the differences between this year’s data and the previous year’s, please visit the Methodology page.

  • Can I compare the data year-over-year?

    We do not recommend comparing the living wage data year-over-year. Due to variations in the data collection process and changes in underlying source data or methodologies, the typical expenses that underpin the living wage calculation may not be comparable depending on what years of data you are using. If you are looking for comparable living wage estimates from 2021 onwards, please submit a request via the contact form.

Data Management

  • Who manages this data?

    The Living Wage Calculator was originally developed as an alternative to federal poverty standards in 2003 by Dr. Amy K. Glasmeier—professor of Economic Geography and Regional Planning at MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP)—and Dr. Tracey Farrigan, a graduate student at the time. Today, the data featured on the Calculator is produced by the Living Wage Institute.

  • Who should I reach out to with questions about the Calculator?

    For all communications around the Calculator, data associated with the Calculator, and questions around methodology and the Calculator’s function, please contact the Living Wage Institute via the contact form.

Citations

  • How should I cite a page from the Living Wage Calculator?

    Each page should be cited as Living wage data sourced from the Living Wage Institute via https://livingwage.mit.edu/[Insert Geography]/[Insert Code]. Accessed on [Insert Date Accessed]. For example, if you wanted to cite the data for Autauga County, Alabama that you accessed on February 15, 2026, use the following citation: Living wage data sourced from the Living Wage Institute via https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/01001. Accessed on February 15, 2026.

FAQs updated February 15, 2026