Cost of Living Calculator 2023

Cost of Living scores and indexes are a way to compare the overall price of goods and services between different areas of the United States. The national average is 100, so when you look at a place's COL Index you can instantly see how much more or less you'll have to pay to live there.

If a place has a cost of living index of 135, then it is 35% more expensive to live there than the national average. If a place has a cost of living index of 85, then it is 15% cheaper than the average for the entire country.

The biggest factor in Cost of Living is housing costs, buying a house or apartment, or renting one.

You get a custom cost of living comparison that includes housing, food, utilities, transportation, healthcare costs (including premiums and common surgeries), taxes, and child care prices.

1. Where do you live now?

2. Where are you considering?

3. What is your annual income? (optional)

Most Recent Searches on Cost of Living

Current City	Comparison City
Dallas, Texas	Norfolk, Nebraska	Compare
Bowling Green, Kentucky	Weyers Cave, Virginia	Compare
Pineville, Louisiana	Manhattan, New York	Compare
Salt Lake City, Utah	Prescott Valley, Arizona	Compare
Helena, Montana	Alton, Illinois	Compare
Lodi, California	Mount Carmel, Tennessee	Compare
Beaufort, South Carolina	Orangeburg, South Carolina	Compare
Lafayette, Colorado	Omaha, Nebraska	Compare
Eau Claire, Wisconsin	Bisbee, Arizona	Compare
Lanham, Maryland	San Diego, California	Compare
Burbank, California	Tempe, Arizona	Compare
Port St. Lucie, Florida	Covington, Georgia	Compare
Columbia, South Carolina	Gainesville, Florida	Compare
Rogers, Arkansas	Pflugerville, Texas	Compare
Raleigh, North Carolina	Wiggins, Mississippi	Compare
Seattle, Washington	Newtown borough, Pennsylvania	Compare
Clarksville, Tennessee	Daly City, California	Compare
Dallas, Texas	Nashville, North Carolina	Compare
Bethany, Oklahoma	Luther, Oklahoma	Compare
Baton Rouge, Louisiana	Lebanon, New Hampshire	Compare

PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION

Includes Cost of Living compares for child care, utilities, transportation, health, taxes, housing for home owners vs renters, weather, insurance premiums and so much more.

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WHAT IS A COST OF LIVING INDEX

A cost of living index allows you to compare what it costs to live in one place against another, revealing how far your money will go in different areas. Scores are presented in relation to the national average of 100. If a place’s COL index is below 100, it’s cheaper than the national average. If it’s over 100, it’s more expensive than the national average.

For example, a cost of living index of 130 means it costs 30% more to live there as compared to the national average (130-100=30). If you perform the same calculation with a cost of index below the national average of 100, you’ll get a negative number showing how much money you’ll save. So, in a place with a COL of 85, that means it costs 15% less to live there than the national average (85-100=-15).

THE BESTPLACES COST OF LIVING SCORE

The BestPlaces cost of living index is the most accurate and complete available because we add many new categories to the current and historical systems. We start with ACCRA’s 100-as-national-average model adopted by the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) in 1968, then update and expand it to include 21st-century consumer spending preferences and expenditure types.

Using sophisticated modeling techniques, our BestPlaces analysis expands the geographic scope of our Cost of Living Indexes down to the zip code level, covering every county, city, and metro area in the United States.

The BestPlaces cost of living score includes housing prices for renters or homeowners, utilities (electric, natural gas, oil), healthcare costs (premiums and common surgeries), entertainment costs, transportation expenses (vehicle insurance and registration fees, gas prices and commuting costs, vehicle depreciation), food prices (meat, dairy, ready-to-eat, and more), child care (for both infants and toddlers, at home and away from home), and taxes (income, property, sales, motor vehicle).

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