American families need to earn $35.80 an hour just to make ends meet. Few earn that.

Decades of stagnant wages, rising costs and frequent economic crises in the U.S. have put millions of Americans close to the financial edge. Just to make ends meet, a family with one adult and two children needs to earn an average of $35.80 an hour — a level of income that is beyond what most households across the country are earning, according to a new study from the 2022 County Health Rankings. 

Out of the nation's more than 3,100 counties, families in only two counties earn enough to meet their county's baseline for a living wage, said Keith Gennuso, a lead author of the study. A living wage covers the costs of food, housing, child care, medical care and transportation, but doesn't provide for retirement savings, higher education costs, emergency savings or other expenditures that can help families secure long-term financial security. 

An hourly wage of $35.80 equates to about $74,400 in annual income. The average hourly wage stood at $31.73 in March, or about $66,000 annually, according to the latest government data. That means many families are falling behind in their ability to afford the basics, said Marjory Givens, co-director at the County Health Rankings, which is a program of the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.