Each year, millions of households struggle to cover their basic needs in the face of economic fluctuations. Prosperity Now’s Scorecard reports have documented over the years the many ways the U.S. economy has failed families and left millions on the outside of prosperity looking in. From the upside-down tax system to decades of stagnated household incomes, it’s clear that the economic system is not designed to prioritize universal economic security, and is instead evolving to become less equitable and transfer even more risk onto the shoulders of working families. 

To get a better idea of the effect these forces have on families’ financial well-being, the Prosperity Now Scorecard team has created state-level Cost-of-Living profiles, which are now live as new features on the Scorecard website. These profiles are designed to provide context and clarity by estimating the average monthly itemized dollar amounts spent on household necessities in each state. They also estimate just how far the average household income can stretch when faced not only with expected monthly costs like rent, food and debt payments, but unanticipated expenses--a blown tire, a hospital visit, a death in the family.  

What we find, and what the data in the Scorecard show, is that, from coast to coast, it is increasingly difficult for working families to make ends meet. These profiles reveal how difficult it is to save at the end of each month, whether because of the high cost of monthly expenses (in states like California or Connecticut) or the paltry monthly earnings available to the heads of working families (in states like Louisiana or Georgia). According to our state cost-of-living data, the average rental household spends up to 96 percent of their monthly income on bills—leaving very little for discretionary spending. Households often devote the minimal amount of income remaining each month to savings, but when emergency costs pile up, those end-of-month deposits are often too quick to evaporate, leaving families unable to scrimp and save their way to security, let alone save for long-term aspirational goals. 

A common refrain from thought-leaders and policymakers alike suggests that working families struggle to save because of a lack of self-control, prioritizing frivolous spending over their short- and long-term needs. Our Cost-of-Living profiles reveal the lie at the heart of that narrative by documenting how quickly monthly income can evaporate as necessary spending—rent, transportation, childcare—accumulates. The economy is not resilient because millions of the country’s households remain financially vulnerable, and because it consistently leaves low-wage workers, immigrants, women and Black and Indigenous people out of short-term and long-term policy solutions to poverty. The situation is more acute for those for whom these identities overlap. 

With the economy still in recovery, millions of U.S. residents are struggling to maintain the standard of living they held just 12 months ago. But millions more were already on the brink. Stratospheric rents, housing shortages, onerous debt burdens, rising medical costs and stagnant incomes have left working families unable to keep pace in the face of monopolistic corporate profits over the past decade. By drawing attention to the direct impact these macro-level trends have on a household’s finances, Prosperity Now’s Cost-of-Living profiles can serve as another case-making tool in the hands of advocates striving to help raise the floor for all. With these tools, we can start to build a stronger, more resilient, democratic economy. 

To find the true cost of living in your state and follow trends in household outcomes, visit https://scorecard.prosperitynow.org. To learn more about Prosperity Now’s policy blueprints for the recovery, please visit our Federal and State Policy Priorities pages. And to get involved and stay connected as we navigate the recovery in 2021 and beyond, join one of Prosperity Now’s advocacy campaigns at https://prosperitynow.org/advocate.