Here’s the Living Wage in North Carolina

Have you ever wondered what kind of money you have to earn to make the living wage in North Carolina? The numbers are always changing, due to inflation, but we have the current figures.

Livingwage.mit.edu has published the numbers for the living wage in every state. They also included some cities. If you're wondering what it means to make a living wage, "The living wage shown is the hourly rate that an individual in a household must earn to support his or herself and their family," they explain. "The assumption is the sole provider is working full-time (2080 hours per year)." Their research also features data for a variety of situations. For example, they have data for households where two adults are working, as well as for people without children and with children. Their stats also include the current state minimum wage, so you can see how it stacks up to the living wage.

So, what's the living wage in North Carolina? Here are the numbers, so you call tell if you make the cut. Currently, according to Livingwage.mit.edu, the living wage for someone with no children in our state is $16.83. If you have one child, that goes up to $35.73. If you have two children, that raises to $46.40. For three children, it's $61.00. This is hourly wages of course. Also, if you have two adults with only one working, the living wage is $26.93 with no children. It's $33.46 with one child, $38.44 with two children and $42.45 with three children.

Here's information on the poverty wage in North Carolina. Here, for a single person, the poverty wage is $6.53 with no children, $8.80 with one child, $11.07 with two children and $13.34 with three children. As for the state minimum wage, it's currently $7.25. It's shocking, in my opinion, how close the state minimum wage is to the poverty wage for someone with no children. Find more on North Carolina, as well as South Carolina, and its living wage here.