Pennsylvania’s Minimum Salary to Be Happy
They say money can’t buy happiness, but a new study has determined how much money it takes to be happy in different states, including Pennsylvania. So, even if money, in the end, can’t buy happiness, it can certainly make life easier and more comfortable, and it seems as if that’s the heart of this new study. How much does it take to truly be happy in Pennsylvania? Let’s find out.
Salary to Be Happy in Pennsylvania
Yahoo Finance has a new feature out about how money can correlate with happiness. “According to a Purdue University study, income can correlate with emotional well-being and life satisfaction, though this probably has to do with a variety of factors, such as having the money to fund the things vital to you, such as your healthcare,” they note in the overall study.
In Pennsylvania, the study says that the minimum salary needed to be happy is $99,540. They add that, “Pennsylvania’s economy was hit harder than many others during the pandemic years — its unemployment rate, though lower than its peak of 13.1%, is still higher than many others at 3.4%.”
So, does money buy happiness? Knowledge at Wharton has a piece up about what the research says about money buying bliss. “Reconciling previously contradictory results, researchers from Wharton and Princeton find a steady association between larger incomes and greater happiness for most people but a rise and plateau for an unhappy minority,” they state in the article.
“In the simplest terms, this suggests that for most people larger incomes are associated with greater happiness,” Killingsworth, a senior fellow at Wharton and lead paper author, says, adding that “the exception is people who are financially well-off but unhappy.” So, the study basically says that if you’re already rich and unhappy, more money won’t make you feel better. But, in general, the study found that more money, overall, as associated with more happiness.
Forbes adds that a new study also finds, “Making more money is associated with greater happiness and life satisfaction,” and that “contrary to prior research, there is no plateau at $75,000.” So, maybe you’ve heard that old theory that making above $75,000 won’t increase your bliss factor, but according to this new study, it likely would.
