If you want to send your kids to college and you live in California, hopefully you started saving back when your kid was born.
Turns out, the Golden State ranks as the 2nd highest state in which parents must make the most money to live comfortably and pay for their kids' college.
The survey, conducted by the financial website, GoBankingRates.com, shows that Californians need to make nearly $107,000 per year if they want to live a "comfortable lifestyle" while also paying for their children's college education.
Researchers used data from the College Board to average the price of tuition, fees and other expenses at a public four-year school, combining it with the cost of living in each state. A state's cost of living was calculated by how much is needed to cover things like a mortgage, groceries, utilities, and more.
There's one piece of good news in the survey. The cost can vary widely through the state. For example, a family needs to make at least $110,000 if they live in San Francisco, but that number falls to only $44,000 if they live in a city like Fresno.
To no one's surprise, Hawaii ranked number one on the list - there, families need to make more than $126,000 per year with Massachusetts, Colorado, and Connecticut rounding out the rest of the top five.
If you're looking for a cheaper place to live and send your kids to college, hopefully your kids want to become Hoosiers. It only costs parents around $62,000 to live comfortably and send their kids to college. Arkansas, Ohio, Missouri, and Kentucky rounded out the rest of the cheaper side of living comfortably and sending kids to college.
Some kids are trying to cut down on the costs of attending college by going to a community college first before transferring to a four-year institution.
If you need some help finding out how much you should save for your kid's college fund, SavingforCollege.com has a handy dandy calculator to help you figure out just how hard you'll have to work over the next 18 years to send your kid to college.
States Where Parents Must Make the Most Money to Live Comfortably and Pay for College
Hawaii: $126,454.40
California: $106,770.82
Massachusetts: $96,573.07
Colorado: $91,700.33
Connecticut: $91,140.89
States Where Parents Must Make the Least Money to Live Comfortably and Pay for College
Indiana: $62,091.05
Arkansas: $62,596.15
Ohio: $62,931.10
Missouri: $63,618.01
Kentucky: $64,110.64