About CompareCityLiving
CompareCityLiving is a free, data-driven resource dedicated to helping Americans understand and compare the real cost of living across the United States. Whether you're considering a job offer in a new city, planning a relocation, negotiating your salary, or simply budgeting more effectively, our goal is to give you clear, accurate, and neutral information — without paywalls, sign-ups, or hidden agendas.
Our Mission
The cost of living is one of the most important financial factors in any person's life, yet it is surprisingly hard to find reliable, side-by-side comparisons between cities. Government statistics exist, but they are scattered across multiple agencies, use inconsistent formats, and are often several years old by the time they're published.
We built CompareCityLiving to solve that problem. We pull together data from the most authoritative public sources in the country, normalize it, calculate consistent indices, and present it in plain English — so you can answer questions like "How much more expensive is Austin than Dallas?" or "What salary do I need to live comfortably in New York?" in seconds.
Where our data comes from
Every statistic you see on this site is derived from official, publicly available datasets. We never invent numbers, and we always cite the source and the year on each page.
- US Census Bureau – American Community Survey (ACS) — the gold standard for population, household income, housing costs, rent, education, commute, and demographics. We use the 5-year estimates, which cover every community in the country.
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) — the federal agency responsible for employment, wages, inflation, and consumer expenditure data. Their Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program provides median wages for hundreds of occupations across metro areas.
- State and local tax authorities — for sales tax, state income tax, and property tax rates.
How we calculate the cost of living index
Our overall index uses 100 as the US national average. A city with an index of 130 is therefore 30% more expensive than the national average; a city at 85 is 15% cheaper.
The composite index is a weighted average of six categories, with weights based on typical household spending patterns from the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey:
- Housing (30%) — median home value, gross rent, property taxes
- Transportation (15%) — gas prices, auto insurance, public transit
- Food & groceries (15%) — typical monthly grocery basket
- Utilities (10%) — electricity, water, internet, heating
- Healthcare (10%) — doctor visits, insurance premiums, dental
- Miscellaneous & taxes (20%) — sales tax, clothing, entertainment, services
We refresh the data annually, after the Census Bureau releases new ACS 5-year estimates (typically in December). Pages always display the source year so you know exactly how current each figure is.
Who we are
CompareCityLiving is an independent project. We are not affiliated with any government agency, real estate company, or relocation service. We do not sell your data, and we do not accept sponsored content that would compromise our neutrality.
The site is supported entirely by display advertising through Google AdSense. Ads are clearly labeled, never disguised as content, and you can always use an ad blocker if you prefer.
Limitations & accuracy
Cost of living data is inherently an average. Your personal costs will depend on your lifestyle, household size, neighborhood choice within a city, and dozens of other factors. Use our numbers as a starting point for comparison — not as a personal budget.
We do our best to be accurate, but if you spot an error or outdated figure, please let us know and we'll review it.