The formula
The Leisure Wage is the hourly pay one worker needs for a household to cover its basic costs, a savings cushion, a modest leisure budget and the taxes on all of it.
(basic costs + savings + leisure + taxes) ÷ (working adults × 2,080 hours)
Taxes are solved on the gross pay needed: we find the pay at which what is left after federal income tax, payroll tax and state income tax equals the full budget.
Four households
| Household | Adults | Children | Working adults | Home size used for rent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 adult | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 bedroom |
| Single parent | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 bedrooms |
| Couple, 1 earner | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 bedrooms |
| Couple, 2 earners | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 bedrooms, figure is per worker |
Inputs and grades
Every input carries a grade. Official is a published figure used as published. Modeled is a published figure we adjusted or combined by a stated rule. GWM is a Groundwork Measure: a value we chose and label as ours.
| Input | Level | Source | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent | County | Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 5-year, median gross rent by bedrooms (Table B25031) | Official |
| Estimated rent where Census has no usable figure | County | Average of two methods, described below. Marked with an asterisk on county pages. | GWM |
| Food | National | USDA food plan costs, adjusted for household size | Modeled |
| Health care | National | KFF premium figures plus out-of-pocket spending from the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey | Modeled |
| Transportation, phone, clothing, household items | National | BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey averages, scaled by household size, vehicles and adults | Modeled |
| Child care | State | U.S. Department of Labor National Database of Childcare Prices, state center-based medians, raised to 2025 with the CPI for day care and preschool. Indiana and New Mexico use the median of states. | Modeled |
| Federal and payroll taxes | National | 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, child tax credit and earned income credit; 7.65% payroll tax | Modeled |
| State income tax | State | Tax Foundation 2026 state tax tables (42 taxing states and D.C.); Arkansas follows its Department of Finance and Administration formula | Modeled |
| Savings cushion | All | 10% of basic costs | GWM |
| Leisure budget | All | $1,865 per person per year: food away from home, fees and admissions and personal care services, at what a middle-income household spends (BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey) | Modeled, set by GWM |
How rent is handled
Rent is the only input that changes from county to county. We use the Census median gross rent for the matching bedroom count. If the margin of error is more than 30% of the estimate, or the rent is under $300, the Census figure is not reliable. Those cells are marked and replaced.
The replacement is the average of two estimates. One takes the county’s all-bedroom median rent and applies the state’s typical ratio for that bedroom count. The other takes the median rent for that bedroom count in at least two reliable neighboring counties. If only one is available we use it, and if neither we use the state median. Across the replaced cells the two methods differ by a median of 13%. In total 459 cells were estimated. Estimated counties hold at most 6.3% of any state’s population.
State figures
A state figure is the average of its counties, weighted by population (Census 2023 5-year, Table B01001). Estimated counties are included.
What it leaves out
- Local taxes, state credits and state disability insurance.
- Benefit phase-outs.
- County differences in everything except rent. Food, health care, transportation and child care use national or state figures.
- Connecticut counties are replaced by planning regions in the 2023 data, so two areas have no county page.
- Spending on restaurants, lodging and services is measured locally only where shown on a county page.
Version and corrections
This is version 0.4. Earlier versions are not published. If you find an error, write to info@groundworkbusinessadvisory.com and we will check it and log the fix on this page.
How to cite
Groundwork Business Advisory. (2026). Leisure Wage™, by state and county (Version 0.4) [Data set]. https://groundworkbusinessadvisory.com/leisure-wage/