The Pay A Family Of 4 Needs To Survive In MT’s 15 Largest Counties

How Much Does Your Salary Need To Be For A Family Of 4 In Montana

When I was fresh out of broadcasting school and moved to Montana, it was a big leap of faith.

That first year it was just me, myself, and I living in an apartment, and the small hourly wage I made was enough to get by.

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Can A Family Of Four Survive On One Salary In 2024?

It's no secret that things are getting pretty pricey as of late—everything from gas to groceries and, most importantly, housing.

While I was able to survive on the money I made a quarter of a century ago, today I've got a wife and two kids that I also need to think about.

There is just no way I could just pack up the wife and kids and move cross-country like I did as a carefree 21-year-old, unless I knew the job I was moving for paid me enough to survive.

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Introducing The Living Wage Calculator

The folks over at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology came up with a "Living Wage Calculator" to help make sure that you know how much you need to make depending on your family size.

Every expense from gas, food, housing, clothing, medical, child care, and more went into this.

They utilized data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to figure out the salary needed to survive in every county in every state in America.

We took a look at what it would take to live and survive in the 15 largest counties in Montana for a family of 4; see the results in the gallery below.