About CostLiving.org

CostLiving.org helps people compare what it costs to live in different US cities and states, using official public statistics rather than crowd-sourced prices.

We publish detailed pages for US cities, all 50 states and the District of Columbia, a state ranking and a two-city comparison calculator. Every figure is computed from government data when the site is built; you can see the source, vintage and geographic level of each number on the page where it appears.

What we do differently

• Official data only. BEA, Census Bureau, BLS, EIA and HUD. See sources.
• No silent gaps. If a city-level figure is missing we show the county, state or regional figure and say so.
• Open method. The budget model and every parameter are on the methodology page.

Limitations

Price parities describe metro areas and states, not neighborhoods. Budgets are models of typical costs and exclude taxes. Use the figures as a starting point, not as financial advice.