Livable wage resources
Use these resources to determine the income you need to support yourself and your family financially in Minnesota or other U.S. states.
What is YOUR Livable Wage?
A family sustaining income is based on several factors, including:
- the number of people in your household
- where you live (city/town, region),
- your expenses (health care, food, housing, debt, etc.) andyour family’s lifestyle (type of home, transportation, spending habits, etc.).
These resources can help anyone living in Minnesota to estimate what income is needed to support yourself and your family, and to explore careers that have the earning potential to meet your needs.
Life's Ruler: Lifestyle Calculator
Determine your livable wage by adding up how much money you need to earn in order to support the lifestyle you want.
Cost of Living in Minnesota: (DEED) provides a yearly estimate of living expenses by county and family size: https://mn.gov/deed/data/data-tools/col/.
Living Wage Calculator in U.S. States: (MIT) estimates the cost of living in a region based on typical expenses and family size: https://livingwage.mit.edu/.
O*NET Online: has detailed descriptions of 900+ occupations in the United States. Search by career cluster or industry to find the wages and employment trends within each occupation profile: www.onetonline.org/find/.
Want to know more about your career possibilities? Talk with a career counselor or come to a career exploration event.