COST OF LIVING BY STATE
Cost of Living by State
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The cost of living usually refers to how much it costs to live in one place, as compared to how much it costs to live in another place.
The demographic data shown here is from a recent business report featured at cnbc.com. The numbers indicate a state's ranking, as compared to other states, in terms of cost of living (COL), Economy and access to capital ($). Lower numbers are better for cost of living, but higher numbers are better for economic strength and access to capital.
The archival data shoen below was compiled from collected info found in the Federal Cost of Living Index, at the Bureau of Labor Statistics and on various official economic websites pertaining to each individual state.
For the purpose of understanding this type of list, the national average cost of living is fixed at 100. You can't tell exactly how much it costs to live somewhere, but you can see how much states deviate from the national average, and from each other.
States are listed alphabetically on this page.
Archival data includes the average overall cost of living (CL), as well as the average housing cost (HC) in each state, as compared to the national average.
For more United States demographics and other economic info, visit any of the links shown on this page.
STATE................C.O.L..........ECONOMY..........$
ALABAMA.....................11.....................40....................40
ALASKA.......................47.....................41....................40
ARIZONA.....................34......................41....................25
ARKANSAS....................3......................27....................40
CALIFORNIA.................49......................18......................1
COLORADO..................35........................8....................15
CONNECTICUT..............45......................32......................8
DELAWARE..................32......................45....................20
FLORIDA......................30......................48....................17
GEORGIA.......................9......................37....................13
HAWAII........................49......................22....................31
IDAHO..........................11......................39....................28
ILLINOIS.......................17......................29......................6
INDIANA.......................13......................41....................26
IOWA...........................17......................10....................36
KANSAS.........................5........................7....................33
KENTUCKY......................3......................44....................38
LOUISIANA....................24.....................25.....................22
MAINE...........................39.....................25.....................40
MARYLAND....................45.....................18.....................12
MASSACHUSETTS..........41.....................17.......................2
MICHIGAN.....................24.....................47.....................18
MINNESOTA...................15......................5.....................19
MISSISSIPPI..................13.....................35.....................40
MISSOURI.......................9.....................29....................20
MONTANA......................32....................15.....................36
NEBRASKA......................5....................14.....................40
NEVADA........................37....................49.....................40
NEW HAMPSHIRE...........39.....................12....................16
NEW JERSEY.................47.....................28......................4
NEW MEXICO.................29.....................21....................28
NEW YORK....................43.......................2......................3
NORTH CAROLINA..........23......................37....................10
NORTH DAKOTA.............17.......................3....................40
OHIO.............................15.....................34....................24
OKLAHOMA......................1.......................6....................32
OREGON........................37.....................33....................14
PENNSYLVANIA...............30.....................15.....................11
RHODE ISLAND...............41.....................49.....................23
SOUTH CAROLINA...........24.....................46.....................34
SOUTH DAKOTA................5.......................4....................40
TENNESSEE......................1.....................36.....................35
TEXAS.............................8.......................1......................7
UTAH.............................17.....................23.....................39
VERMONT.......................43.....................12.....................40
VIRGINIA........................27.....................11.......................9
WASHINGTON.................35.....................18.......................5
WEST VIRGINIA...............17.....................24.....................40
WISCONSIN....................17.....................31......................30
WYOMING.......................27......................9.......................27
COST OF LIVING BY STATE TAXES
UNEMPLOYMENT BY STATE
POVERTY BY STATE
WAGES BY STATE AND PRINTABLE RESUME
MAIN ECONOMY PAGE
STATE..............CL2q09......CL4q09......HC2q09......HC4q09
ALABAMA................92.6................xxx................79.8...............xxx
ALASKA.................126.4................xxx..............137.7...............xxx
ARIZONA...............104.6................xxx..............117.0...............xxx
ARKANSAS...............90.8................xxx................79.0...............xxx
CALIFORNIA...........135.1................xxx..............194.2...............xxx
COLORADO............102.8................xxx..............111.6................xxx
CONNECTICUT........125.3................xxx..............152.1................xxx
DELAWARE.............101.4................xxx...............91.2................xxx
FLORIDA................101.1................xxx.............100.6.................xxx
GEORGIA.................90.9................xxx...............79.1.................xxx
HAWAII.................164.9................xxx.............242.3.................xxx
IDAHO....................92.2................xxx...............81.4.................xxx
ILLINOIS.................96.2................xxx...............90.2.................xxx
INDIANA..................92.4................xxx...............84.0.................xxx
IOWA......................93.5................xxx...............89.3.................xxx
KANSAS...................91.7................xxx...............87.7.................xxx
KENTUCKY...............90.4................xxx...............79.1.................xxx
LOUISIANA...............95.9...............xxx................93.6.................xxx
MAINE....................114.9...............xxx..............139.1.................xxx
MARYLAND..............125.8...............xxx..............172.9.................xxx
MASSACHUSETTS......123.3...............xxx..............138.6.................xxx
MICHIGAN.................96.0...............xxx................91.9................xxx
MINNESOTA.............102.8...............xxx................97.6................xxx
MISSISSIPPI..............92.5...............xxx................78.3................xxx
MISSOURI.................91.1...............xxx................80.9................xxx
MONTANA................102.6...............xxx..............100.3................xxx
NEBRASKA.................90.9...............xxx................85.2................xxx
NEVADA..................105.1................xxx..............111.3................xxx
NEW HAMPSHIRE......117.4................xxx..............118.0................xxx
NEW JERSEY............126.5................xxx...............162.3...............xxx
NEW MEXICO...........100.0................xxx...............102.3................xxx
NEW YORK...............125.2...............xxx...............159.0................xxx
NORTH CAROLINA.......96.4...............xxx.................87.9................xxx
NORTH DAKOTA..........95.1...............xxx.................87.6................xxx
OHIO.........................92.8...............xxx................78.9................xxx
OKLAHOMA.................88.1...............xxx................75.4................xxx
OREGON...................116.1...............xxx...............136.8...............xxx
PENNSYLVANIA..........102.4...............xxx................99.3................xxx
RHODE ISLAND..........119.0...............xxx...............121.4...............xxx
SOUTH CAROLINA........97.5...............xxx.................90.3...............xxx
SOUTH DAKOTA...........91.3...............xxx.................85.8...............xxx
TENNESSEE.................88.9...............xxx.................77.2...............xxx
TEXAS........................90.5...............xxx.................78.9..............xxx
UTAH.........................96.3...............xxx.................90.1...............xxx
VERMONT.................119.9................xxx..............140.1...............xxx
VIRGINIA...................99.3................xxx..............101.9................xxx
WASHINGTON...........104.5................xxx..............107.3................xxx
WEST VIRGINIA..........94.0................xxx................93.6...............xxx
WISCONSIN................95.7...............xxx................87.1...............xxx
WYOMING.................100.4...............xxx..............102.8................xxx
STATE..............CL2q06......CL4q08......HC2q06......HC4q08
ALABAMA..................91.6.............92.0............. 75.6..........81.4
ALASKA...................123.7...........128.9............ 128.8........134.3
ARIZONA ................104.4............106.3........... 113.6........117.8
ARKANSAS................88.6..............90.4............. 74.7.........78.6
CALIFORNIA............134.7............136.6............ 193.4.......201.3
COLORADO.............101.5.............105.7........... 104.3.......115.5
CONNECTICUT..........127.3............127.8............ 162.1......156.2
DELAWARE...............100.3...........102.8.............. 90.5........92.6
FLORIDA..................103.6...........103.6............. 108.0......108.1
GEORGIA...................92.1.............91.4.............. 78.8........78.9
HAWAII...................161.3...........162.8............. 252.1......252.5
IDAHO......................94.5.............93.1.............. 83.5........86.2
ILLINOIS...................95.6.............96.7.............. 91.0........90.3
INDIANA..................92.9.............92.8.............. 83.9........84.2
IOWA.......................93.1.............93.4............. 85.3.........85.8
KANSAS....................90.6.............91.4............. 82.9........84.4
KENTUCKY................94.2.............92.2............. 82.7........81.5
LOUISIANA...............94.6..............94.4............ 90.1.........90.4
MAINE...................108.6.............112.7........... 114.3.......127.6
MARYLAND.............126.5.............127.6........... 171.9.......178.9
MASSACHUSETTS.....122.7.............120.5........... 139.2.......135.9
MICHIGAN ...............101.3...............97.0.............97.6........96.6
MINNESOTA..............97.1.............104.3.............88.4.......103.2
MISSISSIPPI.............89.4...............97.0.............75.8........82.3
MISSOURI................90.0...............90.3.............80.8........78.2
MONTANA................99.3.............105.0.............94.6.......105.0
NEBRASKA................90.2..............89.8.............80.7.........80.8
NEVADA.................107.4.............109.2............119.8.......126.4
NEW HAMPSHIRE.....121.4.............118.2............142.4.......127.8
NEW JERSEY...........131.7.............129.4............174.5.......167.0
NEW MEXICO..........103.1.............101.4............109.7.......104.3
NEW YORK.............130.4.............127.1............170.9.......161.1
NORTH CAROLINA......94.0..............96.7.............86.4.........89.4
NORTH DAKOTA.........93.8.............95.1..............79.6........85.0
OHIO.......................95.4.............93.4..............84.3........79.4
OKLAHOMA...............88.5.............88.4..............75.5........74.9
OREGON.................105.8............114.3............111.2.......137.1
PENNSYLVANIA........100.9............102.0............101.3.......101.3
RHODE ISLAND.........124.4............122.0...........136.6........134.8
SOUTH CAROLINA......94.2..............95.5.............84.3.........84.9
SOUTH DAKOTA.........91.1..............90.5............76.1.........77.1
TENNESSEE..............90.8..............88.3............79.3..........75.8
TEXAS.....................88.9..............90.5............74.5.........77.6
UTAH......................96.1..............95.0.............95.2.........92.1
VERMONT...............122.3.............117.9...........149.7.......130.3
VIRGINIA................103.5.............100.6...........110.4.......104.8
WASHINGTON.........104.4..............103.4..........107.6........103.8
WEST VIRGINIA........95.3...............94.6............93.0..........92.9
WISCONSIN.............94.2...............95.8............86.1..........90.6
WYOMING..............100.9..............102.4..........104.8........107.6
cost of living by state