February 9, 2026
Paycheck panic, calculator edition
MIT Living Wage Calculator
MIT’s Living Wage Calculator sparks wage rage: “too US‑only, too city‑centric, too bleak”
TLDR: MIT updated its Living Wage Calculator to show what it costs to cover basics in US regions. Commenters erupted: some say it’s too city-focused, others claim a family needs ~$160k to live decently, and a Norwegian called 2080 work hours “inhuman”—fueling a fight over what “living” really means.
MIT just refreshed its Living Wage Calculator, a tool from Dr. Amy K. Glasmeier that shows how much a full-time worker needs to cover basics in different US areas. And the comments? Pure chaos. First punch: one user asks if it’s US‑only, tapping a bigger worry that the tool’s global fans are left out. Then the hometown crowd piles on: one commenter says the numbers aren’t granular enough—two spots just 15 miles apart can feel like different planets.
The hottest take comes from a user challenging the math history, blasting old “3x starvation” rules and claiming a family of four needs about $160k to avoid scraping by. Cue a Norwegian parachuting in with a Nordic mic drop: “2080 hours per year… inhuman,” boasting shorter weeks and more holidays. Suddenly the thread turns into “America vs. Europe: Work Hours Edition.”
And the mood? Bleak. Another commenter says the so‑called “living” budget in their city looks like “0 vacations and no house.” People appreciate the transparency, but they’re asking whether “living wage” should mean bare minimum or a modest life with rest. The drama lands somewhere between gratitude for real numbers and panic that the “living” in living wage looks awfully close to surviving.
Key Points
- •MIT’s Living Wage Calculator estimates local wage rates needed to meet basic family needs.
- •Users can explore living wage data by county, metro area, or state.
- •The tool covers 12 different family types for tailored estimates.
- •Data used by the calculator was last updated on February 10, 2025.
- •The calculator is credited to Dr. Amy K. Glasmeier and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.