How much money would it take to make you “happy” living in North Carolina?
The answer is $73,350 a year, according to new analysis. That’s a little less than the national $75,000 yearly benchmark set by a 2010 Princeton study.
Researcher Doug Short used the 2010 study to adjust that number for each state’s cost of living.
The “happiness” salary is between $65,000 and $69,000 in states like Texas, Mississippi and Kentucky. It’s above $100,000 in New York and Washington, D.C.
The more money a person makes, the more their day-to-day happiness increases, according to the study.
But Short said money will only make you happy up to a point. Once you reach the threshold for your state, money will not improve your day-to-day happiness.
The research analyzed more than 450,000 total responses to Gallup weekly in households across 50 states in 2009.
The mean household income that year was $67,976, 9.4 percent below the happiness threshold, according to the United States Census Bureau.
See all states: Uproxx.com