A Single Person in Louisiana Needs to Earn $29,251 a Year to Make Ends Meet

For single people living in America, making ends meet can look a lot different from person to person.

One thing that does play a major role though is location. That affects the cost of housing, food, insurance, and other necessities and can vary greatly depending on where you live.

MIT's Living Wage Calculator estimates the minimum income a single person needs to cover their living expenses and stay above the poverty line, without any outside help, across the United States.

The calculator takes into account a variety of factors: food, health care, housing, transportation, and other necessities like personal care, clothing and housekeeping supplies. It also factors in each state's minimum wage and considers annual changes in consumer spending patterns.

Recently, the calculator added a few changes to its methodology. It now estimates cell phone and Wi-Fi expenses, plus civic engagement expenditures, such as pets, clubs and movie or museum excursions. So basically, they're saying you can have a little fun.

Taking into account all the aforementioned, a living wage minimum has been determined for every state.

So again: "what's the minimum income a single person in the U.S. needs to make to meet basic needs without any additional help?"

For Louisiana, the total required income before taxes is $29,251. The calculator estimates that you would need $7,981 in housing costs and $3,177 in food costs.

While Louisiana is towards the lower end, the bottom rung state surprisingly isn't in the south. It is South Dakota with a total required income amount before taxes of $26,225.

On the other end of the spectrum is not a shocker as it's Hawaii at $40,412.

So there you go, now you know how much you need to make as a single person and not be living in poverty. Although, we're pretty sure your aspirations are higher than "barely gettin' by."