2026 Dental Care Affordability Index

How many hours does the typical household work to pay for one person’s dental care? We compared dental spending with median household income in all 50 states.

Updated October 2026 — 2026 projections

Findings per State

Hours of work to cover one person’s dental care
Rank	State	Projected ratio	Modeled household work hours
1	South Dakota	0.96%	20.1
2	Wyoming	0.95%	19.8
3	North Dakota	0.91%	18.8
4	Alaska	0.86%	17.8
5	Louisiana	0.84%	17.5
6	New Mexico	0.83%	17.2
7	Montana	0.83%	17.2
8	West Virginia	0.82%	17.2
9	Oregon	0.82%	17.0
10	Mississippi	0.81%	16.9
11	Vermont	0.80%	16.6
12	New Hampshire	0.80%	16.6
13	North Carolina	0.78%	16.2
14	Michigan	0.77%	16.1
15	Idaho	0.76%	15.9
16	Wisconsin	0.76%	15.8
17	Indiana	0.76%	15.8
18	Arkansas	0.76%	15.8
19	Florida	0.75%	15.6
20	Oklahoma	0.75%	15.6
21	Kansas	0.75%	15.6
22	Colorado	0.73%	15.2
23	Alabama	0.73%	15.1
24	Minnesota	0.72%	15.0
25	Iowa	0.72%	14.9
26	South Carolina	0.72%	14.9
27	Washington	0.71%	14.8
28	Arizona	0.70%	14.5
29	Connecticut	0.69%	14.4
30	Tennessee	0.69%	14.4
31	Delaware	0.68%	14.2
32	Nevada	0.68%	14.1
33	Utah	0.68%	14.1
34	New York	0.66%	13.8
35	Illinois	0.66%	13.7
36	Maine	0.65%	13.6
37	Virginia	0.65%	13.6
38	Georgia	0.65%	13.5
39	Massachusetts	0.65%	13.5
40	Kentucky	0.64%	13.2
41	Missouri	0.62%	13.0
42	California	0.62%	12.9
43	Pennsylvania	0.62%	12.9
44	Ohio	0.61%	12.6
45	Nebraska	0.58%	12.0
46	New Jersey	0.58%	12.0
47	Texas	0.55%	11.5
48	Hawaii	0.55%	11.3
49	Maryland	0.53%	11.0
50	Rhode Island	0.52%	10.8

US average: 14.2 hours; $619 per person, 2026 projection.

Two States, One Perspective

In South Dakota, one person’s dental care takes 20.1 hours of household work — 9.3 hours more than in Rhode Island, where it takes 10.8 hours.

Compare modeled household work hours and spending-to-income ratios. These are not individual wages or patient bills.

Key Findings

The findings journalists quote most, each with a one-click copy button.

A Full Working Day Apart.

South Dakotans work 20.1 hours to cover one person’s dental care, while DC residents work 10.7. The 9.4-hour difference is more than a full eight-hour working day.

Cross the Border, Pay Six More Hours.

Louisiana households work 17.5 hours for dental care, and neighboring Texas households work 11.5. Louisiana spends only $43 more per person, but lower incomes make each dollar weigh more.

Mississippi Spends Less but Works Longer.

Mississippians spend $311 less per person on dental care than people in Massachusetts ($489 vs. $800). They still work 25% longer to pay for it: 16.9 hours vs. 13.5.

The Dakotas Lead the Nation.

South Dakota and North Dakota rank first and third. Wyoming, between them at second, completes a northern Plains sweep of the top three.

New Hampshire Spends the Most per Person, and It Barely Shows.

New Hampshire has the highest dental spending of any state at $929 per person. High incomes push it down to 12th on the burden ranking.

Wyoming Works over Four Hours Longer than Neighboring Colorado.

Wyoming residents work 19.8 hours, compared with 15.2 in Colorado, despite similar spending levels.

Texas’s Low Number Is a Warning, Not a Win.

Texas ties Kentucky for the lowest dental spending per person ($487) and ranks 47th on burden. Low spending in a state with high uninsured rates more likely means people skip dental care than that care is cheap.

Two Working Days of the Year Go to Dental Care.

The typical US household works 14.2 hours, almost two full working days, to cover one person’s annual dental costs.

Methodology

We compared how much the average person in each state spends on dental care in a year (CMS data) with the typical household income (US Census Bureau data). “Hours of work” shows how long a typical household would need to work to cover one person’s yearly dental costs. All figures are 2026 projections based on the latest official data.

For Journalists

Source: Dental Reviewed, 2026 Dental Care Affordability Index, 2026 projections

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