What state has the highest cost of living?

California has the highest cost of living, with a regional price parity of about 110.7 versus the US average of 100 — roughly 11% above average. Hawaii and the District of Columbia are close behind.

What state has the lowest cost of living?

Arkansas has the lowest cost of living at about 86.9, roughly 13% below the national average. Mississippi and Oklahoma are also among the most affordable.

What are Regional Price Parities?

They are the federal government’s official measure of price levels by area, produced by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The US average is set to 100, so a state’s value shows how its overall prices compare with the nation.

How do I compare salaries between states?

Divide each salary by the state’s index and multiply by 100 to express both in national-average dollars. A $100,000 salary in a state at 110 has about the same buying power as $91,000 nationally.

Cost of Living by State

Using the government’s Regional Price Parities — the most authoritative cost-of-living measure, where the US average = 100 — the priciest state is California at 110.7 and the most affordable is Arkansas at 86.9. A value of 110 means prices run about 10% above the national average; 90 means about 10% below.

Cost of living captures what your money actually buys — housing, goods and services — which is why the same salary stretches much further in some states than others. The full index for all 50 states and DC is below.

Most expensive states

The ten most expensive states are led by California, Hawaii and District of Columbia. High-cost states are driven mostly by housing prices, which vary far more between states than the price of goods.

Rank	State	Index (US = 100)
1	California	110.7
2	Hawaii	110.0
3	District of Columbia	109.9
4	New Jersey	108.8
5	New York	107.9
6	Washington	107.0
7	Massachusetts	105.8
8	Maryland	105.0
9	New Hampshire	104.2
10	Connecticut	103.6
11	Florida	103.4
12	Oregon	103.4
13	Colorado	103.1
14	Alaska	102.4
15	Rhode Island	102.3
16	Virginia	101.1
17	Arizona	100.7
18	Illinois	100.0
19	Nevada	100.0
20	Delaware	99.8
21	Utah	98.9
22	Minnesota	98.6
23	Vermont	98.0
24	Pennsylvania	97.6
25	Texas	97.1
26	Maine	97.0
27	Georgia	96.3
28	Michigan	96.2
29	Idaho	95.5
30	Montana	94.6
31	North Carolina	94.3
32	Wisconsin	94.1
33	South Carolina	93.7
34	Indiana	93.3
35	Ohio	92.8
36	Wyoming	92.7
37	New Mexico	92.2
38	Tennessee	91.9
39	Missouri	90.8
40	Kentucky	90.2
41	Kansas	90.1
42	Nebraska	90.1
43	West Virginia	89.5
44	North Dakota	89.0
45	Alabama	88.8
46	South Dakota	88.6
47	Louisiana	88.2
48	Iowa	87.8
49	Oklahoma	87.8
50	Mississippi	87.0
51	Arkansas	86.9

Cost-of-living index by state, US average = 100 (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024)

What the index means for your budget

The index is relative to the national average of 100. In a state at 110, a basket of goods and services that costs $100 nationally costs about $110; in a state at 90, roughly $90. Housing is the biggest single driver of the differences.

This matters most when comparing job offers or planning a move: a higher salary in a high-cost state can leave you worse off than a lower salary somewhere cheaper. Adjust any salary comparison by the two states’ index values.