You can be happy with very little if you want to be. Happiness is a state of mind, not an income level.
Income makes life a little easier, but doesn't make you happy. The one thing I wish I could do differently is make and keep friends. Friends make you happier. I moved a lot building my career and salary, but I didn't make many friends and now I don't seem to able to.

Define happiness. A movie came out a couple of decades ago titled "Affluenza" [allmovie.com] about GDP and happiness rating. A movement was started called voluntary simplicity [choosingvoluntarysimplicity.com] and a book was written titled "Your Money or Your Life" (all 3 changed my life). I guess I should be miserable at $24K but I actually lead a full life and have no financial troubles (and actually save $). Absolutely, money does not but happiness.

good grief...we have happy employees making a lot less...

Oklahoma
Minimum salary needed to be happy: $92,715
Oklahoma requires the second-lowest salary of all the states to be happy

Yep...the cost of living here is really low....and the weather is pretty awesome too.

I guess I don't get to be happy.