U.S. Cost-of-Living Explorer

Compare what daily life costs across states and counties. Values come from federal datasets, each carries its reporting period, and every color on the map is paired with a text marker. Read how the score works.

Search a state or county

Type at least two characters. Choosing a county opens that state's map.

Map layer

Weighted composite of every category that has loaded data for this location.

Cost scale

Compared with the national average. Each step also carries a text marker so the scale never relies on color alone.

Much lower cost
Lower cost
Near benchmark
Higher cost
Much higher cost
Not available for this layer

States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico

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Select an area on the map or in the list. Selecting a state or territory opens its counties or municipios.

Territory

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico uses different governmental, tax, utility, and statistical systems from the states. Some measures may come from different datasets or reporting periods and may not be directly comparable with state values.

CostExplore Cost Pressure Index

–index of the weighted measures below, national average = 100

Index not available

Verified category-weight coverage:: 0%
Measure coverage:: 0%
Weighted measures not loaded: Not yet loaded: median_gross_rent, median_home_value, housing_cost_burden_pct, electricity_price_cents_kwh, natural_gas_price_residential, combined_sales_tax_rate, effective_property_tax_rate, mean_commute_minutes, marketplace_benchmark_premium, childcare_price_center_infant, food_plan_monthly_cost, purchasing_power_pressure_index
Geographic specificity:: Not available
Excluded categories: Housing, Energy and Utilities, Taxes, Transportation, Health Insurance, Childcare, Food, Household Income and Purchasing Power unavailable and excluded
Reason the index is unavailable: Reason: Housing is required for a score and has no usable measure. missing_required_housing_category
Index version: Index Version 1.1

Category breakdown

Housing30.00% configured · excludedNot available
Energy and Utilities10.00% configured · excludedNot available
Taxes15.00% configured · excludedNot available
Transportation6.00% configured · excludedNot available
Health Insurance12.00% configured · excludedNot available
Childcare8.00% configured · excludedNot available
Food7.00% configured · excludedNot available
Household Income and Purchasing Power12.00% configured · excludedNot available

Household income is converted to an income index and combined with the non-income cost subtotal to produce purchasing-power pressure. It is never treated as a direct cost.

What stands out

Lower than the national average

No material advantages in the loaded data.

Higher than the national average

No material trade-offs in the loaded data.

Electricity cost estimator

Residential price: Not available
Typical household use: Not available

Your monthly electricity use (kWh)

Estimated monthly electricity cost

Not available

A residential price is not available for this location.

This estimate uses the EIA average residential retail electricity price, which EIA derives from retail revenues divided by retail sales and which includes delivered electricity costs such as generation, transmission, distribution, taxes, and fees. It is an average, not a utility tariff or your specific rate plan, so it does not reflect fixed monthly charges, tiered or time-of-use pricing, or your utility's individual rate structure. Energy prices are reported by state, so county views reuse the statewide value.

Measures used in the score

Residential Electricity PriceNot available
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration for the residential sector at the state level as retail revenues divided by retail sales. The published price includes delivered electricity costs such as generation, transmission, distribution, taxes, and fees. County profiles display the statewide value unchanged. (eia-reported-v1)
Limitation:
An average across a state's residential customers, not a utility tariff or an individual rate plan, so it does not reflect fixed monthly charges, tiered or time-of-use pricing, or a specific utility's rate structure. Reported at the state level; county profiles show the statewide value.
Residential Natural Gas PriceNot available
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Price reported by the U.S. Energy Information Administration for the residential sector at the state level. County profiles display the statewide value unchanged. (eia-reported-v1)
Limitation:
Reported at the state level. County profiles show the statewide value.
Median Gross RentNot available
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Value published directly by the American Community Survey 5-year estimates for the geography. No transformation applied. (acs-reported-v1)
Median Home ValueNot available
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Value published directly by the American Community Survey 5-year estimates for the geography. No transformation applied. (acs-reported-v1)
Housing-Cost Burden (30% or more of income)Not available
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Burdened owner households plus burdened renter households divided by the combined owner and renter burden universes, times 100. Households whose ratio is not computed are excluded from both the numerator and the denominator. (v1.1)
Combined Sales Tax RateNot available
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Calculated: statutory state rate (verified against the state revenue agency) plus an externally sourced statewide average local rate. Not reported by any state revenue agency. (v1.0.1)
Limitation:
Context only until the statewide average local component is attributed and verified. When it becomes weighted it replaces the separate state and average local components, which may never be weighted alongside it.
Effective Property-Tax ProxyNot available
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Calculated: ACS 5-year B25103_001E (median real-estate taxes paid, owner-occupied housing units) divided by B25077_001E (median value, owner-occupied housing units), times 100. Both inputs come from the same ACS release and geography, and the national benchmark is computed with the identical formula from the national row of the same release. (v1.0)
Limitation:
Comparison proxy only, not a household tax rate. It divides two separately estimated ACS medians (each interpolated from grouped distributions), so no single household pays this rate. Assessed value can differ from market value, homestead and other exemptions vary by household, overlapping school district, city, county, and special-district levies vary within a state, and assessment caps change what an owner actually pays. Use it to compare places, not to estimate a tax bill.
Purchasing-Power Pressure IndexNot available
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Income Index = local median household income / compatible national median household income x 100. Non-Income Cost Index = weighted result of the available Housing, Energy, Taxes, and Transportation categories. Purchasing-Power Pressure Index = Non-Income Cost Index / Income Index x 100. (v1.0.1)
Limitation:
Calculated from the other categories, so it inherits their coverage and reporting-period limits.
Marketplace benchmark health premium (age 40)Not available
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
County: second-lowest distinct silver plan premium, age 40. State: average of its counties. Nation: average of all HealthCare.gov counties. (v1.1)
Limitation:
Before premium tax credits. States running their own marketplace show the national average.
Center-based infant childcare priceNot available
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Weekly median price times 52. (v1.1)
Limitation:
Latest available year is 2022.
Thrifty Food Plan cost, family of fourNot available
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Limitation:
One national figure: it does not vary by place.

Context measures

Shown for interpretation. These measures carry no weight in the composite cost pressure index.

Average Monthly Residential ConsumptionNot available
Context only
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Annual residential electricity sales in MWh times 1,000, divided by the residential customer count, divided by 12. (v1.0)
Limitation:
Context only. Higher consumption may reflect climate, home size, or heating fuel rather than higher unit cost.
Average Monthly Residential Electricity CostNot available
Display only
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Annual residential electricity revenue divided by the residential customer count, divided by 12. (v1.0)
Limitation:
Display only. It is derived from the same records as the electricity price and is not weighted separately.
Median Monthly Owner CostsNot available
Context only
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Value published directly by the American Community Survey 5-year estimates for the geography. No transformation applied. (acs-reported-v1)
Limitation:
Context only in Score Version v1.0. Selected monthly owner costs already bundle mortgage payments, real-estate taxes, property insurance, utilities, and fuels, which are measured separately by the tax and energy categories. Weighting it as well would double count those components.
Median Gross Rent as a Percentage of Household IncomeNot available
Context only
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Derived from American Community Survey 5-year estimate variables for the geography. See the calculation evidence panel for the source variables and intermediate counts. (acs-derived-v1)
Limitation:
Context only in Score Version v1.0. This is the median rent-to-income ratio, not the share of renters paying 30 percent or more, and it materially overlaps both median gross rent and the housing-cost burden measure.
State Sales Tax RateNot available
Context only
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Statutory state sales tax rate from the state revenue agency, verified import. Indexed against the unweighted mean of the 51 jurisdictions. A statutory zero indexes at 0. (v1.0.1)
Limitation:
Only the statutory state rate is weighted. Local sales taxes are excluded because no verified statewide local average is loaded, so states with high local rates are understated. Grocery, clothing, and prescription treatment differ by state and are shown separately rather than scored.
Average Local Sales Tax RateNot available
Context only
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Statewide average of local sales tax rates computed outside the state revenue agency. The calculating organization, averaging method, effective date, and publication date must be recorded before this measure is published. (v1.0.1)
Limitation:
The average local component is not published by state revenue agencies. Until the calculating organization, averaging method, effective date, and publication date are recorded and verified, this measure is withheld from public pages and from the score.
State Individual Income TaxNot available
Context only
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Statutory top marginal individual income tax rate published by the state revenue agency, verified import. Context only: not indexed and not weighted, because the top bracket is not the rate a typical household pays. (v1.0.1)
Limitation:
A top marginal statutory rate is not an effective household tax rate: brackets, deductions, exemptions, credits, and local income taxes are not reflected. It is shown as context only and carries no weight in the index. A state with no individual income tax is recorded as 0.00%.
Median Household IncomeNot available
Supporting input
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Value published directly by the American Community Survey 5-year estimates for the geography. No transformation applied. (v1.0.1)
Limitation:
Income is not a direct cost. It is combined with local cost levels to produce purchasing-power pressure.
Per Capita IncomeNot available
Context only
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Value published directly by the American Community Survey 5-year estimates for the geography. No transformation applied. (acs-reported-v1)
Limitation:
Context only. Weighting per-capita income alongside median household income would double count income.
HUD Fair Market Rent — EfficiencyNot available
Context only
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Reported by HUD for the applicable FMR area. No averaging, conversion, or interpolation is applied. (v1.0)
Limitation:
Fair Market Rent is a federal program benchmark for gross rent, not median advertised rent or a guarantee of available housing. Metropolitan FMRs are area-wide and apply to every county in the FMR area.
Mean Commute TimeNot available
Weighted proxy
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Calculated: ACS 5-year B08013_001E (aggregate travel time to work, in minutes) divided by B08012_001E (workers 16 years and over who did not work at home). The ACS published mean travel time was not retrieved. (v1.0.1)
Limitation:
Transportation-pressure proxy, not a direct transportation cost. Commute time stands in for fuel, fares, wear, and time cost, so the Transportation category is a lower-confidence category in Score Version v1.0.
HUD Fair Market Rent — 1 BedroomNot available
Context only
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Reported by HUD for the applicable FMR area. No averaging, conversion, or interpolation is applied. (v1.0)
Limitation:
Fair Market Rent is a federal program benchmark for gross rent, not median advertised rent or a guarantee of available housing. Metropolitan FMRs are area-wide and apply to every county in the FMR area.
Households Without a VehicleNot available
Context only
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Derived from American Community Survey 5-year estimate variables for the geography. See the calculation evidence panel for the source variables and intermediate counts. (acs-derived-v1)
Limitation:
Context only. A high share of households without a vehicle can reflect strong transit access or low income, so it carries no cost direction and never moves the index.
HUD Fair Market Rent — 2 BedroomNot available
Context only
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Reported by HUD for the applicable FMR area. No averaging, conversion, or interpolation is applied. (v1.0)
Limitation:
Fair Market Rent is a federal program benchmark for gross rent, not median advertised rent or a guarantee of available housing. Metropolitan FMRs are area-wide and apply to every county in the FMR area.
HUD Fair Market Rent — 3 BedroomNot available
Context only
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Reported by HUD for the applicable FMR area. No averaging, conversion, or interpolation is applied. (v1.0)
Limitation:
Fair Market Rent is a federal program benchmark for gross rent, not median advertised rent or a guarantee of available housing. Metropolitan FMRs are area-wide and apply to every county in the FMR area.
HUD Fair Market Rent — 4 BedroomNot available
Context only
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Reported by HUD for the applicable FMR area. No averaging, conversion, or interpolation is applied. (v1.0)
Limitation:
Fair Market Rent is a federal program benchmark for gross rent, not median advertised rent or a guarantee of available housing. Metropolitan FMRs are area-wide and apply to every county in the FMR area.
Home-based preschool childcare priceNot available
Context only
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Weekly median price times 52. (v1.1)
Limitation:
Latest available year is 2022.
Regional Price Parity (all items)Not available
Context only
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Reported by BEA; no CostExplore calculation applied. (v1.0)
Limitation:
Published for states and metropolitan areas only. BEA publishes no county Regional Price Parity, so county pages may show only the parent state value labelled as a state-level benchmark.
Regional Price Parity: goodsNot available
Context only
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Reported by BEA; no CostExplore calculation applied. (v1.0)
Limitation:
State and metropolitan areas only; not published for counties.
Regional Price Parity: housing servicesNot available
Context only
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Reported by BEA; no CostExplore calculation applied. (v1.0)
Limitation:
State and metropolitan areas only; not published for counties. Overlaps the weighted housing measures, so it is context only and never enters the score.
Regional Price Parity: utilities servicesNot available
Context only
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Reported by BEA; no CostExplore calculation applied. (v1.0)
Limitation:
State and metropolitan areas only; not published for counties. Overlaps the weighted energy measures, so it is context only.
Regional Price Parity: other servicesNot available
Context only
National comparison not available
Not available: No record is loaded for this location and measure.
Source:
Not available
Dataset:
Not available
Reporting period:
Not available
Geography:
Not available
Data status:
Not available
Last refresh:
Not available
Calculation:
Reported by BEA; no CostExplore calculation applied. (v1.0)
Limitation:
State and metropolitan areas only; not published for counties.

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