Want to Be Happy in California? This is the Minimum Salary You Need to Make

We’ve all heard the expressions “money can’t buy happiness” and “more money, more problems.” Looking at the current balance of our bank account, we’re pretty sure we’ll never be in a position to know how true that second one is. 

We can only assume that the truth about the link between money and happiness is found somewhere between those two adages. Purdue University didn’t want to assume. They want to answer the question “Does happiness rise indefinitely with income or is there a point at which higher income no longer leads to greater well-being?” While performing their research, they determined that there is a very specific salary that Americans need to earn to be truly “happy.” 

READ MORE: How Much Money Single People Need to Make to Survive in Idaho, Washington or Utah

That base number is $105,000. However, how far $105,000 goes varies from state to state because of how radically different the cost of living is depending on which state you call home. (Keep reading to find out what it is for California and Idaho.) Purdue explained that they determined that number by looking at how much their survey respondents needed to earn to be satisfied based on two factors: life evaluation and emotional well-being. 

What is Life Evaluation?

PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,) live evaluation is “thoughts that people have about their life when they think about it.” It’s often measured by asking people to rate their life on a scale of 1-10, with one being the worst life possible for you and 10 being the best life possible for you. 

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Studies show that those who give themselves a low number often lack access to basic needs like food, shelter and health care. They also report more feelings of pain, stress and sadness. Those who see their life as at least a 7 are optimistic that their life will get even better in the next five years and experience more happiness/enjoyment in life. 

Purdue says to feel like you’re truly thriving on this scale, you need to make at least $95,000. 

What is Emotional Well-Being?

The National Institutes of Health defines emotional wellness as “the ability to successfully handle life’s stresses and adapt to change and difficult times.” In order to do this, you need to make time for yourself, reduce stress and get quality sleep. Not so easy if you have to work three jobs to keep the lights on. 

Purdue estimates that it takes $60,000 to $75,000 to achieve good emotional well being. It makes sense. Higher salaries usually mean workload which makes things like work-life balance and sleep difficult. 

So: $95,000 + $60,000 = $105,000 (Purdue’s estimated salary to be happy.)

Price of Happiness in the PNW and California

The financial site, Go Banking Rates, wanted to take it a step further to see how that number would vary from state to state. Some have much higher costs of living than others, so they adjusted the $105,000 based on the state’s cost-of-living index. 

After crunching the numbers, this is how much they determined you need to make in Idaho, its neighboring states in the Pacific and Mountain regions of the US and California. 

We’ve also included the figures that Go Banking Rates says would be a living wage in each state. They define a living wage as “the income you need to cover necessary and discretionary expenses while still contributing to savings.”