This page uses calculations by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) for cost of living by county in the United States. The EPI Family Budget combines data from relevant federal government agencies, supplemented as necessary, on costs of housing, food, childcare, transportation, healthcare, and taxes. A detailed outline of the methodology for the calculator can be on the EPI website. 

Table 1 shows cost of living estimates for three different household structures. A key distinction between these three categories is that a single adult is priced for a studio apartment, two adults for a one-bedroom, and one adult and one child for a two-bedroom.

Tables 2–4 show the differences between the salary averages presented above and these costs. The lower tier average salary (first row of numbers) is $56,933 and the upper tier (second row) is $87,029. In other words, the difference is how much more employers need to pay in order for organizers to afford the cost of living.