Montana Ranked 4th Least Affordable State

Montana ranks as the fourth least affordable state in the US, with a 2.78% difference between the average wage and cost of living in the state.

The study, carried out by careers board Lensa, analysed the affordability gap in states around the US, comparing the cost of living to the average wage to reveal the percentage difference.

The study also looked into grocery costs, housing prices, the cost of utilities and transportation costs to assess each state's affordability.

You can view the full study here: https://lensa.com/insights/least-affordable-states.

Hawaii was the least affordable state in the US with the national average wage being a whopping 20.32% less than the average cost of living. Hawaii also had one of the highest housing spends in the study, spending $13,864 on housing.

Oregon came in second place, with the national wage being 7.01% less than the average cost of living. Oregon also had one of the highest transportation cost scores in the study, spending $12,312 per year.

California and New York are also featured in the least affordable states. California's national wage was only 4.38% higher than the average cost of living. New York's national average wage was only 8.54% higher than the average cost of living.

FURTHER FINDINGS

Virginia was named the most affordable state in the US with the national average wage being a whopping 49.64% higher than the average cost of living. Virginia also had one of the lowest transportation costs, spending $8,716 per year on transport.

Illinois followed closely behind, with the national wage being 44.8% higher than the average cost of living. Texas also ranked in third place with the national average wage being 41.24% higher than the cost of living.

The top three most affordable states all had a 40% difference between the national average wage and the cost of living, whilst the others also had a 30% difference between the national average wage and the cost of living.

The full breakdown of the study is available at https://bit.ly/3xXJCWS.