Whether you’re buying your first guitar or your tenth, purchasing a new guitar is one of the most exciting things in the world, but the excitement of getting a new instrument can quickly be overshadowed by how much the price might set you back.
With the rising cost of living across the U.S., guitars have seen their prices go up as well, with the average cost of a new electric guitar reaching $625 in recent years. However, depending on where you live, the price of a guitar can feel more or less overwhelming when you factor in local wages.
So where in the U.S. is it most affordable to buy a new guitar?
With the average cost of an electric guitar of $625 in mind, we gathered average salary data in each state from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis in order to find how many hours of work it takes to afford a new guitar in every U.S. state.
Key Findings:
- On the national average wage, the average American must work 18.62 hours to save enough to buy a $625 guitar.
- Mississippi is the least affordable state, where the average Mississippi resident would need to work 26.18 hours to buy a new guitar.
- The high average salary in Massachusetts makes it the most affordable state to buy a new guitar. Here, the average person would need to work just 14.35 hours to afford a guitar.
Guitars Are Least Affordable in Mississippi, and Most Affordable in Massachusetts
In Mississippi, someone would need to work 26.18 hours to save up enough money to purchase the average new electric guitar – making Mississippi the least affordable state for guitars. Meanwhile, the high average wage in Massachusetts drastically reduces the time needed to work to afford a new guitar down just 14.35 hours.
The Top 10 Least Affordable States to Buy a New Guitar
As mentioned above, Mississippi is the least affordable state to buy a new guitar when taking the local average salary into account. However, other states in the top ten are not far behind, with West Virginia (24.61 hours), Alabama (23.98 hours), New Mexico (23.49 hours), and Kentucky (23.48 hours) all ranking among the top 5 least affordable places to buy a new guitar.
| RANK | STATE | HOURS OF WORK IT TAKES TO PURCHASE A NEW GUITAR |
| 1 | Mississippi | 26.18 |
| 2 | West Virginia | 24.61 |
| 3 | Alabama | 23.98 |
| 4 | New Mexico | 23.49 |
| 5 | Kentucky | 23.48 |
| 6 | South Carolina | 22.67 |
| 7 | Arkansas | 22.56 |
| 8 | Louisiana | 22.09 |
| 9 | Idaho | 21.89 |
| 10 | Georgia | 21.71 |
The Top 10 Most Affordable States to Buy a New Guitar
The East Coast is the place to be if you’re a guitar collector. The higher-than-average wages in states like New York and Massachusetts make the guitar-buying process far less painful on the wallet. We found that Massachusetts is the most affordable state in America to buy a new guitar. Here, you’d need to work just 14.35 hours to buy a $625 guitar.
| RANK | STATE | HOURS OF WORK IT TAKES TO PURCHASE A NEW GUITAR |
| 1 | Massachusetts | 14.35 |
| 2 | Connecticut | 14.45 |
| 3 | New York | 15.79 |
| 4 | New Jersey | 15.83 |
| 5 | Wyoming | 15.84 |
| 6 | California | 16.00 |
| 7 | Washington | 16.06 |
| 8 | Colorado | 16.24 |
| 9 | New Hampshire | 16.47 |
| 10 | Maryland | 17.24 |
Making The Case For Cheap Guitars
I’ve always been a fan of finding cheap guitars that sound good. In fact, I’ve been playing a Sonic Blue G&L Fallout Tribute that I purchased used as my main guitar for the better part of 10 years. That guitar has survived going on several tours, played countless shows, and has been used to record all of the demos on the Pedal Haven YouTube channel and it still plays like a dream today. The point is, there are a ton of really awesome cheap guitars out there today from the ever-expanding Fender Squier lineup to the wide range of guitars from Epiphone and more.
Take a trip to your local guitar shop and try something out!
Methodology
We gathered average salary data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis in order to find each state’s average hourly wage. Then we found the average price of a new electric guitar ($625). Using these two figures, we were able to calculate how many hours the average resident in each state would need to work in order to purchase a new guitar.