Cost of Living Statistics: 60+ Key Facts and Data for 2026

Cost of living statistics compiled from 60+ government and academic sources for 2026. US prices are up 25% since 2020, housing eats 33% of the average budget, and Hawaii costs twice as much as Mississippi. Find out what the data says and how to stretch your budget further.

The number that won’t stop following you: prices across the US economy are up roughly 25% since 2020, and the average household now spends over $77,000 a year just to keep the lights on, the fridge stocked, and a roof overhead. That’s what the data shows. And yet most cost of living guides stop at the numbers and never tell you what to do about them.

This article is different. The DontPayFull Research Team compiled 60+ cost of living statistics from government agencies, academic institutions, and independent research organizations, then translated each major finding into practical context for everyday shoppers. Every stat is cited. Every trend is analyzed. And we’ve added a section that no competitor bothers to write: what you can actually do to fight back against the numbers.

What the Data Says: US Cost of Living Overview

The average American household spent $77,535 in 2024, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey, while earning $101,207 before taxes. That gap looks fine on paper. But once you subtract taxes, debt payments, and the fact that official income figures skew toward higher earners, the cushion shrinks fast.

Cost of living measures how much money someone needs to cover basic expenses in a specific place. The Consumer Price Index (CPI), published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is the main tool for tracking price changes over time. It averages prices across eight categories: food, housing, apparel, transportation, healthcare, recreation, education, and other goods.

The CPI tracks change, though. It doesn’t tell you whether one city costs more than another. For that, you need the Cost of Living Index (COLI), which measures absolute differences between locations using a baseline of 100 for the US average. When Hawaii scores 185.0, it means daily life there costs 85% more than average. That gap matters a lot when comparing states.

What most guides skip is the gap between what CPI measures and what families actually feel. The Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity tracks a “True Living Cost” index. It weighs housing, healthcare, and childcare more heavily than official CPI does. Their numbers show TLC rose 106% since 2001 versus CPI’s 77.2%. For lower-income households, that’s not a rounding error. It’s rent they can’t cover and prescriptions they skip.

Cost of Living Statistics by Spending Category

Housing is the biggest line item in the American budget by a wide margin: it consumed 33.4% of total household spending in 2024, or $25,266 per year on average. Add transportation at 17.0% ($13,318) and you’ve already spent more than half the household budget before buying a single grocery.

Here’s what those percentages mean day to day. Food at 12.9% of a $77,535 budget works out to $763 a month. That’s a line item where smart shopping makes a real dent. Grocery coupons, cashback apps, and store loyalty programs all chip away at it. Across the millions of coupon codes we process weekly at DontPayFull, grocery and pharmacy codes rank among the most-used categories. That tracks with the data: food and healthcare are the expense lines where people can move the needle without moving to a new state.

The housing jump deserves a closer look. Owned-dwelling costs rose 7.0% in a single year. That number reflects mortgage interest, property taxes, and maintenance costs that increased sharply for homeowners who refinanced or purchased recently. Renters aren’t exempt either. Rented-dwelling costs rose 5.4% in 2024 after climbing 4.7% the year before. These aren’t one-time adjustments. They’re compounding.

Housing Cost Statistics

Housing costs hit records in the most recent data. Median monthly owner costs for homeowners with a mortgage reached $2,035 in 2024, up from $1,960 in 2023, per Census Bureau ACS data. Median gross rent hit $1,487 in 2024, a 2.7% jump year-over-year.

The NAHB/Wells Fargo Cost of Housing Index lays it out plainly. In Q4 2024, a family at the median income needed 38% of their earnings to cover a median-priced new home mortgage. By Q4 2025, that dropped to 34%. Progress. But the standard affordability threshold is 28-30%. Still above it.

The rule of thumb says housing should cost 30% of income or less. But more than 46% of renter households in the US were spending above that as of 2023, per Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. A record share of low and middle-income renters spent more than half their income on rent. That’s not a local problem. It’s everywhere.

Cost of Living by State 2026

State-by-state cost of living differences are larger than most people realize. Hawaii’s COLI index sits at 185.0 while Mississippi’s is just 87.3, making Hawaii more than twice as expensive as the most affordable state in the union.

The MERIC (Missouri Economic Research and Information Center) Cost of Living Data Series is the most widely used state index. It tracks prices for groceries, housing, utilities, transportation, and healthcare each quarter, then scores each state against a national baseline of 100. Above 100 means pricier than average. Below 100 means cheaper.

Source: Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC) 2025 Cost of Living Data Series.

Here’s what the raw index numbers hide: high nominal pay in an expensive state doesn’t make you wealthier. When the Bureau of Economic Analysis adjusts income for regional price differences, the rankings flip in surprising ways. Wyoming, not usually seen as a high-income state, tops the list at $68,501 in real per capita income. Mississippi, the most affordable state, still ranks last at $40,465. Cheap prices help. But wages there are so low that cheap still isn’t enough.

So what does this mean for someone choosing where to live? The math on remote work is worth running carefully. Moving from California (COLI 142.3) to Kansas (COLI 88.8) at the same salary is effectively a 37% pay raise in purchasing power terms. Big difference.

Cost of Living Trends: How Much Has It Changed Since 2020?

Prices are up about 25% cumulatively since 2020, according to CNBC’s analysis of BLS data. The inflation spike wasn’t gradual. Annual inflation was just 1.23% in 2020, then shot to 4.70% in 2021 and peaked at 8.0% in 2022, the highest rate since 1981.

The 2022 peak hit hard for anyone buying groceries or signing a new lease. But slowing inflation doesn’t undo the damage. A 3% annual rate on top of a 25% cumulative increase means prices keep rising. Just slower. Your grocery bill doesn’t reset to 2019 levels because the rate drops.

The gap between CPI and LISEP’s True Living Cost index is worth knowing. TLC weights housing, healthcare, and childcare more heavily, since lower-income households can’t swap those out for cheaper options. Under TLC, a family’s buying power has fallen since 2001. Under CPI, it’s up. Both use government data. The difference is what they measure and how much each category weighs.

Median Household Income vs. Cost of Living

US median household income sat at roughly $77,651 in February 2025, per Motio Research. Census Bureau ACS data shows median income climbed from $60,293 in 2018 to $78,538 in 2023 in nominal terms. That’s a 30% gain on paper.

But nominal income growth looks different once you subtract inflation. Prices rose 25% since 2020. Median incomes grew roughly 19% in nominal terms over the same stretch. The math doesn’t favor households. Wages ran behind prices through most of 2021-2023, and while the gap narrowed, most families aren’t back to their 2020 purchasing power yet.

The Federal Reserve’s 2024 SHED survey found that household financial well-being was similar to 2022-2023 but still below the 2021 peak. Price concerns stayed high. The job market looks solid from the outside. What’s happening inside American households is messier.

The poverty rate tells a similar story. At 10.6% official and 12.9% under the Supplemental Poverty Measure, both figures are below pandemic-era peaks. But they still cover tens of millions of people. For them, cost of living isn’t an economic concept. It’s a choice between rent and the electric bill.

Global Cost of Living Comparison

The US ranks 12th globally in Numbeo’s Cost of Living and Rent Index, with a score of 54.6 when New York City is used as the baseline of 100. That puts the US well below Switzerland (82.3) and Singapore (80.9) but well above most of Asia and Eastern Europe.

Worth knowing: Numbeo uses New York City as the 100 baseline. So every score reflects costs vs. one of the world’s most expensive cities. The US score of 54.6 is a national average across all cities. It’s not what it costs to live in Kansas City or Birmingham.

So is the US expensive globally? Compared to most of Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, yes. Compared to Switzerland or Singapore, no. For Americans thinking about remote work or international moves, Germany (47.6) and Canada (48.1) are closer than most people expect once exchange rates are in the math.

Cost of Living by City: Most and Least Expensive US Cities

City-level cost of living varies dramatically within states, not just between them. New York City rent averages $4,874 per month for a 2-bedroom apartment versus a national average of $2,154. The income you’d need for a comfortable life in New York is also far above median household income.

The Sun Belt correction is real but small. Miami, Denver, and Phoenix all dropped in recent data, but they’re falling from pandemic peaks that were extreme by any measure. Miami rose over 60% between 2020 and 2023 before pulling back. A 4.3% dip doesn’t fix that.

Chicago is worth noting. At around $305,000 for a typical home, it’s a fraction of coastal prices. For families who can’t afford New York or Los Angeles, Chicago and other Midwest cities are a real option. Not a fallback.

Food and Grocery Cost Statistics

The average American household spent $9,169 on food in 2024, split between groceries eaten at home and meals eaten out. Food inflation has been persistent: food at home rose 2.4% and food away from home climbed 3.9% in the 12 months ending February 2026.

The restaurant vs. grocery gap matters. Eating out now costs 3.9% more than a year ago. Groceries are up 2.4%. Cooking at home is still cheaper per meal, and that spread keeps growing. For a household spending $500 a month eating out, 3.9% is about $19 extra per month. Not a crisis. But that’s $230 a year, which buys two months of most streaming plans.

From processing millions of coupon codes, we’ve tracked a consistent pattern: grocery and pharmacy codes see usage spikes when food CPI data drops and gets media coverage. When news outlets report rising grocery prices, more shoppers search for discount codes. Cashback apps and store loyalty programs perform especially well in this environment because they work on existing shopping behavior rather than requiring shoppers to switch stores or brands.

Healthcare and Transportation Cost Statistics

Healthcare spending averaged $6,197 per household per year in 2024, or 7.9% of total spending, but the CPI data suggests it’s accelerating. Healthcare costs rose 3.4% overall in the 12 months ending February 2026, with hospital services up a sharper 6.7%.

Transportation has the most variation within the overall average. Gas prices fell 3.4% year-over-year, which helps. But vehicle insurance rose 2.8%, coming off several years of steep hikes driven by repair costs, labor shortages, and bad weather claims. Car owners who haven’t shopped their insurance in two years are almost certainly overpaying.

Healthcare is the category that worries economists most going forward. Hospital services up 6.7% while overall inflation sits at 2.4% is a huge gap. The LISEP data on health insurance premiums makes it worse: premiums eat more than 60% of all medical costs for lower-income households. The people with the tightest budgets have the least room to absorb those increases.

How to Lower Your Cost of Living: Smart Savings Strategies

Prices are 25% higher than they were in 2020. That’s the baseline. So the question isn’t whether you need a savings strategy. It’s which one works best for each major budget category.

Food and groceries (12.9% of your budget). This is the most reliable category for coupon savings. Grocery store loyalty programs, weekly digital coupons, and cashback apps all work on your normal shopping routine. No need to switch brands or stores. You just pay less. Stacking a manufacturer coupon with a store sale is allowed at most major grocers. Tracking deals across hundreds of stores in our platform, a pattern keeps showing up: the biggest savings go to shoppers who check deals before writing the list, not after.

Healthcare (7.9% of your budget). Generic medications use the same active ingredients at much lower prices. For OTC items, coupon codes at Walgreens, CVS, and other pharmacies can cut costs on vitamins, cold medicine, and more. FSA and HSA accounts let you pay healthcare costs with pre-tax dollars. That’s a 20-30% effective discount, depending on your tax bracket.

Household goods and home improvement. Home Depot and Lowe’s both run regular promo codes on tools, appliances, and building materials. A 10-15% discount on a $400 appliance is $40-60 back in your pocket. Timing matters here. Big appliance sales bunch up around holiday weekends, and outdoor clearance runs every September and October like clockwork.

Clothing and apparel. Seasonal clearance cycles are predictable. Winter apparel hits 50-70% off in late January; summer items clear in August. Using retailer promo codes on top of clearance prices extends savings further. Our DontPayFull extension automatically applies the best available code at checkout, so you don’t have to remember to search before buying.

Transportation. This one’s harder to coupon your way through. But airline fares and gas are both down 3.4% year-over-year, which helps. For car-related purchases, auto parts shops, tire retailers, and service chains all run regular codes. And for insurance, shopping your policy every year is the most reliable way to avoid the rate creep that hits loyal customers hardest.

Methodology

This article was compiled by the DontPayFull Research Team based on publicly available data from government agencies, academic institutions, and independent research organizations.

A note on data currency: Government agencies typically publish survey results 12 to 18 months after the reference year closes. As of 2026, the most recent BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey covers 2024 (released February 2026), the Federal Reserve SHED covers 2024 (released May 2025), and the Census Bureau ACS 1-Year Estimates cover 2024 (released September 2025). Data in this article citing 2024 or earlier reflects the latest release available at time of writing. It’s not outdated research.

Primary data sources include:

• Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey 2024 (released February 2026): household spending by category, housing cost trends
• BLS Consumer Price Index (February 2026 release): current inflation rates by category
• Census Bureau American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates 2024 (released September 2025): median owner costs, median gross rent, poverty rates
• Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (2025 data): national home price trends
• NAHB/Wells Fargo Cost of Housing Index (Q4 2025 data): housing affordability vs. median income
• Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC) Cost of Living Data Series, 2025 edition: state-by-state COLI rankings
• Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities (via FRED Blog, February 2026): real per capita income adjusted for regional costs
• Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies State of the Nation’s Housing 2025: rental cost-burden analysis
• LISEP (Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity) True Living Cost Index: alternative inflation measurement
• Numbeo Cost of Living and Rent Index 2025 (via Visual Capitalist): global comparisons
• Federal Reserve SHED 2024 (released May 2025): household financial well-being survey
• UN SDG / World Bank via Data Commons: annual inflation rate time series 2015-2022
• Joint Economic Committee / Social Security Administration: FY2025 CPI-U and 2026 COLA announcement

Data collection window: Q4 2025 through Q1 2026. State COLI data from MERIC reflects the 2025 annual release.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the cost of living increasing or decreasing in 2026?

Prices are still rising in 2026, just more slowly than in 2022. Overall CPI was 2.4% for the 12 months ending February 2026, down from the 8.0% peak in 2022. But prices are up roughly 25% since 2020 on a cumulative basis. So while the rate of increase is moderating, the absolute price level hasn’t come down.

What state has the lowest cost of living in the US?

Oklahoma has the lowest cost of living index at 86.0, per MERIC 2025 data. Mississippi is close at 87.3. Both states score well below the US average of 100, meaning everyday expenses run 12-14% below the national norm. Housing is particularly cheap in both states.

What state has the highest cost of living?

Hawaii ranks first with a COLI of 185.0, followed by New York (148.2) and California (142.3). Hawaii’s housing subindex is approximately 315, meaning housing alone costs more than three times the national average. That’s driven by the island geography that makes construction and supply chain costs inherently higher.

How much has the cost of living gone up since 2020?

About 25% on a cumulative basis, per CNBC’s analysis of BLS data. The increase wasn’t linear. Inflation was just 1.23% in 2020, then accelerated sharply to 4.70% in 2021 and 8.0% in 2022 before moderating. The full 25% cumulative increase reflects both the sharp 2021-2022 spike and the continued above-target inflation in subsequent years.

How much has the cost of living gone up in the last 12 months?

Overall CPI rose 2.4% in the 12 months ending February 2026. Categories with faster increases include hospital services (+6.7%), food away from home (+3.9%), food overall (+3.1%), and housing shelter (+3.0%). Categories with price decreases include gasoline (-3.4%) and airline fares (-3.4%).

Where can I find official cost of living data?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (bls.gov) publishes monthly CPI data and annual Consumer Expenditure Survey results. The Census Bureau (census.gov) publishes American Community Survey data covering housing costs, income, and poverty rates. MERIC (meric.mo.gov) publishes quarterly state-by-state cost of living indexes. The FHFA (fhfa.gov) tracks home price trends nationally.

What is the Consumer Price Index (CPI)?

The Consumer Price Index tracks the average change in prices paid by urban consumers for a set basket of goods and services. The BLS calculates it monthly across eight categories: food, housing, apparel, transportation, medical care, recreation, education, and other goods. The CPI-U version covers about 93% of the US population and is the most widely cited.

What percentage of income should go to housing?

Traditional financial guidance puts the ideal at 28-30% of gross income for housing costs. But as of 2024, more than 46% of renter households were cost-burdened, spending above 30% on housing, per Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. In high-cost cities and states, spending 35-40% on housing is common and sometimes unavoidable at median income levels.

Is the US expensive compared to other countries?

Moderately expensive by global standards. The US ranks 12th globally on Numbeo’s Cost of Living index, with a score of 54.6 compared to Switzerland at 82.3 and Singapore at 80.9. Western European countries like Germany (47.6) and France (46.0) are slightly cheaper than the US average. Most of Asia and Eastern Europe are dramatically cheaper.

How do I calculate my personal cost of living?

Start with the BLS CE Survey as a baseline: housing (33.4%), transportation (17.0%), food (12.9%), healthcare (7.9%). Then apply your state’s MERIC COLI. Divide the index by 100 to get a multiplier. Someone spending $60,000 a year in California (COLI 142.3) is effectively spending $85,380 at national average prices. From there, track actual spending by category for two or three months. Compare to the BLS benchmarks to see where you’re over or under average.

Data compiled by the DontPayFull Research Team based on publicly available data from government agencies, academic institutions, and industry research firms.

Sources

1. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Housing and Transportation Accounted for 50% of Household Spending in 2024: BLS TED article on 2024 Consumer Expenditure Survey breakdown (2026)
2. BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey 2024 Annual Press Release: Full annual CE Survey data including housing expenditure trends (2026)
3. CNBC: Cumulative Inflation Since 2020: Analysis showing prices up ~25% since 2020 based on BLS data (2025)
4. Census Bureau ACS 1-Year Estimates 2024: Median owner costs, median gross rent, poverty rates (2025)
5. FHFA House Price Index Q2 2025: US home price trends showing 2.9% YoY increase (2025)
6. Harvard JCHS / Enterprise Community: Four Key Findings from 2025 State of the Nation’s Housing: Renter cost-burden data and housing affordability analysis (2025)
7. NAHB: Families Must Spend 38% of Income on Mortgage Payments (Q4 2024): NAHB/Wells Fargo Cost of Housing Index Q4 2024 (2025)
8. NAHB: Affordability Posts Mild Gains in Second Half of 2025: NAHB/Wells Fargo Cost of Housing Index Q4 2025 (2026)
9. Joint Economic Committee: CPI Inflation Ends FY2025 at 3.01%, SSA Announces 2.8% COLA: FY2025 CPI and 2026 Social Security COLA (2025)
10. LISEP True Living Cost Index: Alternative cost of living measurement showing TLC up 106% vs CPI 77.2% since 2001 (2024)
11. Motio Research via Political Calculations: Median Household Income in February 2025: US median household income estimate ~$77,651 (2025)
12. Federal Reserve SHED 2024: Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking, financial well-being data (2025)
13. FRED Blog: Differences in Cost of Living Across the US: BEA Regional Price Parities and real per capita income by state (2026)
14. Visual Capitalist: Mapped: The Global Cost of Living Index 2025: Numbeo global COLI data, US ranked 12th at 54.6 (2025)
15. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI: Monthly CPI data including overall 2.4% YoY as of February 2026 (2026)
16. BLS: Food Prices: Food at home +2.4%, food away from home +3.9%, overall food +3.1% (2026)
17. BLS: Medical Care CPI: Healthcare CPI +3.4%, hospital services +6.7% (2026)

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