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Cost of living by state: cheapest and most expensive states
Regional price parities compare price levels across states in a single year. 100 is the national average; 110 means prices are 10% above it. It is the official way to compare cost of living between states.
Data vintage: BEA regional price parities for 2024 (released Dec 2025, file of Feb 11, 2026). Last checked 2026-10-27 by The CompareTheData team.
Data: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Jump to sources · Methodology
Key takeaways
- Most expensive: California (110.7), Hawaii (110.0) and New Jersey (108.8) (index, U.S. = 100). D.C. is 109.9.
- Cheapest states to live in: Arkansas (86.9), Mississippi (87.0) and Iowa (87.8).
- $100 in Arkansas buys about as much as $127 in California.
- Housing drives the gap: housing parities range from 54 to 155, while goods range only from 94 to 112.
Cost of living by state chart
Cost of living index by state, ranked
Click a column heading to sort. Download this table (CSV).
| Rank | State | All items (U.S.=100) | Housing | Goods | Utilities | What $100 buys | All items 2023 | All items 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 110.7 | 154.3 | 106.1 | 158.9 | $90.32 | 112.2 | 109.9 |
| 2 | Hawaii | 110.0 | 125.3 | 111.6 | 190.2 | $90.95 | 109.7 | 110.6 |
| 3 | District of Columbia | 109.9 | 155.0 | 106.5 | 112.8 | $90.99 | 110.7 | 114.2 |
| 4 | New Jersey | 108.8 | 134.3 | 107.1 | 114.2 | $91.91 | 108.9 | 109.0 |
| 5 | New York | 107.9 | 122.2 | 107.3 | 134.4 | $92.66 | 107.8 | 108.9 |
| 6 | Washington | 107.0 | 126.0 | 104.4 | 92.9 | $93.45 | 108.4 | 103.9 |
| 7 | Massachusetts | 105.8 | 128.1 | 98.8 | 152.1 | $94.56 | 107.7 | 104.5 |
| 8 | Maryland | 105.0 | 121.1 | 102.5 | 110.9 | $95.28 | 104.6 | 107.9 |
| 9 | New Hampshire | 104.2 | 114.9 | 98.6 | 133.7 | $96.00 | 105.4 | 102.1 |
| 10 | Connecticut | 103.6 | 117.0 | 97.3 | 146.5 | $96.52 | 104.2 | 107.0 |
| 11 | Florida | 103.4 | 122.1 | 98.1 | 90.1 | $96.70 | 103.6 | 100.9 |
| 12 | Oregon | 103.4 | 108.6 | 105.3 | 107.0 | $96.75 | 104.8 | 99.7 |
| 13 | Colorado | 103.1 | 127.4 | 98.7 | 85.0 | $97.04 | 101.9 | 103.1 |
| 14 | Alaska | 102.4 | 93.8 | 106.3 | 119.0 | $97.70 | 103.3 | 102.4 |
| 15 | Rhode Island | 102.3 | 105.6 | 97.2 | 146.7 | $97.77 | 102.1 | 100.3 |
| 16 | Virginia | 101.1 | 106.8 | 100.4 | 92.2 | $98.91 | 101.3 | 103.5 |
| 17 | Arizona | 100.7 | 106.8 | 95.4 | 92.3 | $99.33 | 100.7 | 97.9 |
| 18 | Nevada | 100.0 | 114.1 | 96.3 | 90.5 | $100.02 | 97.9 | 99.2 |
| 19 | Illinois | 100.0 | 93.9 | 103.8 | 85.0 | $100.04 | 98.8 | 99.7 |
| 20 | Delaware | 99.8 | 102.0 | 96.2 | 103.8 | $100.19 | 98.8 | 99.7 |
| 21 | Utah | 98.9 | 107.8 | 96.4 | 78.7 | $101.15 | 95.7 | 97.9 |
| 22 | Minnesota | 98.6 | 91.3 | 100.5 | 90.8 | $101.40 | 98.3 | 98.3 |
| 23 | Vermont | 98.0 | 86.5 | 97.3 | 125.8 | $102.08 | 97.1 | 97.9 |
| 24 | Pennsylvania | 97.6 | 85.1 | 99.4 | 109.3 | $102.49 | 97.4 | 97.2 |
| 25 | Texas | 97.1 | 96.5 | 98.1 | 87.5 | $103.03 | 97.1 | 98.4 |
| 26 | Maine | 97.0 | 78.9 | 97.2 | 135.2 | $103.04 | 98.0 | 92.5 |
| 27 | Georgia | 96.3 | 88.7 | 98.9 | 92.8 | $103.85 | 96.5 | 95.0 |
| 28 | Michigan | 96.2 | 82.3 | 96.0 | 100.2 | $103.93 | 94.3 | 95.5 |
| 29 | Idaho | 95.5 | 90.0 | 96.3 | 70.4 | $104.72 | 92.2 | 93.7 |
| 30 | Montana | 94.6 | 84.6 | 96.0 | 72.3 | $105.66 | 91.0 | 95.2 |
| 31 | North Carolina | 94.3 | 81.4 | 96.6 | 88.6 | $106.02 | 94.4 | 93.8 |
| 32 | Wisconsin | 94.1 | 79.3 | 94.3 | 89.9 | $106.28 | 93.2 | 93.8 |
| 33 | South Carolina | 93.7 | 80.5 | 96.3 | 88.3 | $106.67 | 93.5 | 93.2 |
| 34 | Indiana | 93.3 | 73.9 | 95.5 | 85.5 | $107.15 | 92.1 | 92.6 |
| 35 | Ohio | 92.8 | 73.0 | 93.7 | 95.8 | $107.79 | 91.9 | 93.0 |
| 36 | Wyoming | 92.7 | 71.1 | 95.4 | 78.4 | $107.89 | 91.6 | 97.4 |
| 37 | New Mexico | 92.2 | 73.6 | 96.1 | 77.9 | $108.45 | 91.0 | 95.5 |
| 38 | Tennessee | 91.9 | 79.1 | 96.2 | 72.1 | $108.85 | 92.1 | 92.8 |
| 39 | Missouri | 90.8 | 69.9 | 96.3 | 79.4 | $110.11 | 91.1 | 93.4 |
| 40 | Kentucky | 90.2 | 64.3 | 96.0 | 75.3 | $110.92 | 89.9 | 91.1 |
| 41 | Nebraska | 90.1 | 75.2 | 94.1 | 75.6 | $110.98 | 90.3 | 91.8 |
| 42 | Kansas | 90.1 | 71.2 | 94.0 | 88.4 | $111.03 | 89.9 | 93.1 |
| 43 | West Virginia | 89.5 | 54.2 | 96.5 | 92.2 | $111.74 | 89.6 | 89.9 |
| 44 | North Dakota | 89.0 | 71.4 | 95.7 | 73.7 | $112.41 | 88.2 | 92.5 |
| 45 | Alabama | 88.8 | 61.8 | 96.4 | 84.6 | $112.58 | 89.1 | 90.2 |
| 46 | South Dakota | 88.6 | 67.6 | 95.5 | 79.7 | $112.88 | 88.1 | 89.4 |
| 47 | Louisiana | 88.2 | 63.1 | 93.7 | 71.5 | $113.37 | 88.7 | 93.4 |
| 48 | Oklahoma | 87.8 | 62.8 | 93.8 | 73.9 | $113.84 | 88.7 | 91.8 |
| 49 | Iowa | 87.8 | 65.3 | 93.7 | 83.3 | $113.94 | 88.8 | 91.0 |
| 50 | Mississippi | 87.0 | 56.5 | 96.2 | 78.4 | $115.00 | 86.8 | 89.0 |
| 51 | Arkansas | 86.9 | 58.2 | 93.6 | 74.7 | $115.03 | 86.8 | 89.4 |
What changed since 2014
Parities are relative, so a state's index rises only if its prices outpaced the nation. Since 2014 the biggest relative increases were in Maine, Oregon and Washington, and the biggest relative declines in Louisiana, Wyoming and the District of Columbia. Comparing 2023 with 2024, most states moved less than one point.
How to read these numbers
- State averages hide big differences between cities and rural areas; BEA also publishes metro-area parities.
- Parities compare price levels in one year. They are not inflation rates.
- “Other services” (health care, education, recreation) is included in the all-items index but not shown separately.
Common questions
What is the cheapest state to live in?
Arkansas has the lowest overall price level (index 86.9), followed by Mississippi and Iowa.
What is the most expensive state to live in?
California (index 110.7), followed by Hawaii and New Jersey.
How is cost of living by state measured?
BEA combines Consumer Price Index data with Census rent data to estimate each state's price level relative to the U.S. average.
Sources
Figures computed by CompareTheData.com from the official files below; the raw downloads are archived with the build. Where D.C. is included it is ranked alongside the states.
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, SARPP regional price parities by state. 2024 data, file dated Feb 11, 2026.