CostAtlas
US cost of living by state — price levels, the salary you need, and side-by-side state comparisons.
CostAtlas is a free, answer-first cost-of-living reference for all 51 US states and DC. The headline number for each state is its price level — the BEA Regional Price Parity (RPP), where the US average is 100, so a state at 112 is about 12% more expensive than the country as a whole and a state at 88 is about 12% cheaper. The most expensive is District of Columbia (112.8, +12.8% vs US) and the cheapest is Arkansas (86.6, -13.4%). Each state page adds median household income and median rent, and the salary calculator tells you the equivalent pay you'd need after a move.
Source: BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), all items. Data as of June 2026.
Popular states
RPP 112.5 (+12.5%) · median income $95,521
TexasRPP 97.5 (-2.5%) · median income $75,780
FloridaRPP 102.1 (+2.1%) · median income $73,311
New YorkRPP 107.6 (+7.6%) · median income $82,095
North CarolinaRPP 94.2 (-5.8%) · median income $70,804
TennesseeRPP 91.8 (-8.2%) · median income $67,631
What you can look up
- State price levels — a page for every state with its RPP, rank, median income, median rent and what it all means.
- Salary needed to move — the cost-of-living calculator converts your pay between any two states using the RPP ratio.
- State vs state — side-by-side comparisons like California vs Texas and New York vs Florida.
- Rankings — the most expensive, cheapest and highest-income states.
5 most expensive states
- District of Columbia — RPP 112.8 (+12.8%)
- California — RPP 112.5 (+12.5%)
- Hawaii — RPP 110.8 (+10.8%)
- Washington — RPP 109.8 (+9.8%)
- Massachusetts — RPP 109.4 (+9.4%)
5 cheapest states
- Arkansas — RPP 86.6 (-13.4%)
- Mississippi — RPP 87.3 (-12.7%)
- Alabama — RPP 87.8 (-12.2%)
- South Dakota — RPP 88.0 (-12.0%)
- Iowa — RPP 88.4 (-11.6%)
Guides
The most and least expensive US states by overall price level, using BEA Regional Price Parities where the US average is 100 — plus what actually drives the gap.
2026-06-18 How much salary do you need to live in California?How much salary you need in California to match a US-average standard of living, based on the state's BEA price level — with the formula and worked examples.
2026-06-16 Texas vs California cost of living (2026)Texas vs California cost of living compared: overall price level, median income, median rent and the salary you'd need to move between the two states.
2026-06-14 What is a Regional Price Parity (RPP)?A plain-English explainer of the BEA Regional Price Parity (RPP): what it measures, how the US = 100 scale works, and how to use it to compare cost of living between states.
2026-06-12 Cheapest states to retire in (2026)The cheapest US states to retire in by overall price level, using BEA Regional Price Parities and Census rent data — plus the tax caveats retirees should check.
2026-06-11 Median rent by state (2026)Median gross rent by US state from the Census ACS — the most and least expensive states for renters, and how rent tracks each state's overall price level.
2026-06-10Where the data comes from
Price levels are the BEA Regional Price Parities (2022, all items, US = 100). Median household income and median rent are from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (2023). All three are in the public domain. The "salary needed" figure is a transparent calculation over those inputs — see our methodology for the exact formula and its limits. Cost-of-living figures are estimates; verify against the primary source before making a money decision.
Last updated: 2026-06-18