US Cost of Living Calculator By State

What Is US Cost Of Living?

Cost of living refers to the amount of money needed to sustain a specific standard of living, covering essentials like housing, food, transportation, utilities, healthcare, and taxes. It varies by location due to differences in prices and is often measured via indexes that compare regions or track changes over time.

How is US cost of living calculator Work step by step?

Cost of living is calculated by measuring the total expenses required to maintain a standard lifestyle in a specific location, using a standardized "basket" of goods and services. The process follows a structured index method, often setting a baseline of 100 for a reference city or national average.

Step 1: Define Categories

Identify key expense categories like housing, food, transportation, utilities, healthcare, taxes, clothing, and miscellaneous goods. Each category gets weighted based on typical consumer spending (e.g., housing often 30-40%).

Step 2: Select Basket Items

Choose representative items for each category, such as rent/mortgage, bread/milk, gasoline, or doctor visits, reflecting average household consumption. Data sources like government surveys (e.g., Bureau of Labor Statistics) provide these benchmarks.

Step 3: Collect Price Data

Gather current local prices for basket items via surveys from organizations like the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) or Economic Policy Institute. Compare against the base location's prices.

Step 4: Calculate Sub-Indexes

For each category, compute the price ratio: (local price / base price) × 100, then weight and average them into a total index. Example: If housing is 20% heavier and 120% pricier, it contributes proportionally.

Step 5: Generate Overall Index

Sum weighted sub-indexes for the final cost of living index; values over 100 indicate higher costs than the base. Tools like calculators apply this for personalized comparisons.

How Our Tool Can Help You Make a Better Decision

Our tool has done the heavy liftings for you. All you need to do is to add most important aspects of your livings in any state of US. You might need to check this before you make a decision and settle someone with your favorite career like being "Software engineer in US" All you need to choose is:

1. Select State.
2. Choose household type.
3. Housing type.
4. City type
5. Transportation
6. Monthly Income