I’m pretty sure the cost of living numbers are for a household, not an individual.

No, these are using the cost of living numbers for an individual. Cost of living for a family of four is over 2x higher by their same calculations.

So for two individuals making $35 an hour they would be close to affording comfortable cost of living in the cheapest state. Or it we were to make it equivalent to one individual’s income being enough for a family, they would need to be earning like 80 an hour