Cheapest state
Arkansas
All items 86.9
2026 Edition | Updated September 2026
Cost of Living by State 2026: Complete Rankings, All 50 States
All 50 states on the BEA all-items price parity, from Arkansas at 86.9 to California at 110.7 against a US benchmark of 100. Below: the complete table, what the parities say about regional clustering, and how a price level differs from an inflation rate.
Most expensive state
California
All items 110.7
Below national level
32 of 50
States with an all-items parity under 100
Above national level
16 of 50
States above 100. 2 sit at exactly 100.
Complete rankings
All 50 states, cheapest to most expensive
| Rank | State | All items | Housing rents | Median home | Median income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arkansas | 86.9 | 58.2 | $192,800 | $52,528 |
| 2 | Mississippi | 87.0 | 56.5 | $162,100 | $46,511 |
| 3 | Iowa | 87.8 | 65.3 | $208,700 | $65,573 |
| 4 | Oklahoma | 87.8 | 62.8 | $196,500 | $56,956 |
| 5 | Louisiana | 88.2 | 63.1 | $198,200 | $52,295 |
| 6 | South Dakota | 88.6 | 67.6 | $285,400 | $63,920 |
| 7 | Alabama | 88.8 | 61.8 | $216,500 | $56,950 |
| 8 | North Dakota | 89.0 | 71.4 | $248,500 | $66,519 |
| 9 | West Virginia | 89.5 | 54.2 | $145,600 | $50,884 |
| 10 | Kansas | 90.1 | 71.2 | $207,600 | $64,521 |
| 11 | Nebraska | 90.1 | 75.2 | $246,800 | $65,720 |
| 12 | Kentucky | 90.2 | 64.3 | $198,500 | $55,573 |
| 13 | Missouri | 90.8 | 69.9 | $222,300 | $61,043 |
| 14 | Tennessee | 91.9 | 79.1 | $298,500 | $59,695 |
| 15 | New Mexico | 92.2 | 73.6 | $287,500 | $53,992 |
| 16 | Wyoming | 92.7 | 71.1 | $298,500 | $65,003 |
| 17 | Ohio | 92.8 | 73.0 | $210,500 | $61,938 |
| 18 | Indiana | 93.3 | 73.9 | $227,800 | $61,944 |
| 19 | South Carolina | 93.7 | 80.5 | $278,600 | $59,318 |
| 20 | Wisconsin | 94.1 | 79.3 | $265,800 | $67,125 |
| 21 | North Carolina | 94.3 | 81.4 | $318,600 | $62,891 |
| 22 | Montana | 94.6 | 84.6 | $415,200 | $62,043 |
| 23 | Idaho | 95.5 | 90.0 | $420,300 | $63,527 |
| 24 | Michigan | 96.2 | 82.3 | $235,400 | $63,498 |
| 25 | Georgia | 96.3 | 88.7 | $310,200 | $65,030 |
| 26 | Maine | 97.1 | 78.9 | $365,800 | $64,767 |
| 27 | Texas | 97.1 | 96.5 | $298,700 | $67,321 |
| 28 | Pennsylvania | 97.6 | 85.1 | $268,500 | $67,587 |
| 29 | Vermont | 98.0 | 86.5 | $378,500 | $65,792 |
| 30 | Minnesota | 98.6 | 91.3 | $318,500 | $77,706 |
| 31 | Utah | 98.9 | 107.8 | $475,800 | $74,197 |
| 32 | Delaware | 99.8 | 102.0 | $355,400 | $72,724 |
| 33 | Illinois | 100.0 | 93.9 | $262,500 | $72,205 |
| 34 | Nevada | 100.0 | 114.1 | $435,600 | $66,274 |
| 35 | Arizona | 100.7 | 106.8 | $394,200 | $69,056 |
| 36 | Virginia | 101.1 | 106.8 | $385,200 | $80,615 |
| 37 | Rhode Island | 102.3 | 105.6 | $418,500 | $71,169 |
| 38 | Alaska | 102.4 | 93.8 | $345,700 | $77,640 |
| 39 | Colorado | 103.1 | 127.4 | $525,600 | $82,254 |
| 40 | Florida | 103.4 | 122.1 | $398,500 | $63,062 |
| 41 | Oregon | 103.4 | 108.6 | $498,500 | $70,084 |
| 42 | Connecticut | 103.6 | 117.0 | $395,100 | $83,771 |
| 43 | New Hampshire | 104.2 | 114.9 | $425,800 | $83,449 |
| 44 | Maryland | 105.0 | 121.1 | $398,500 | $87,063 |
| 45 | Massachusetts | 105.8 | 128.1 | $598,700 | $89,645 |
| 46 | Washington | 107.0 | 126.0 | $568,500 | $82,228 |
| 47 | New York | 107.9 | 122.2 | $435,800 | $74,314 |
| 48 | New Jersey | 108.8 | 134.3 | $472,500 | $85,245 |
| 49 | Hawaii | 110.0 | 125.3 | $978,200 | $84,857 |
| 50 | California | 110.7 | 154.3 | $785,300 | $84,907 |
Sources: BEA Regional Price Parities by State (table SARPP), reference year 2024, released February 19, 2026; Census ACS 5-year (median income, median home value); Zillow ZHVI. See methodology.
Regional clusters
Geographic patterns in the parities
South, Plains and Midwest: cheap cluster
9 states sit below an all-items parity of 90: Arkansas (86.9), Mississippi (87.0), Iowa (87.8), Oklahoma (87.8), Louisiana (88.2), South Dakota (88.6), Alabama (88.8), North Dakota (89.0), West Virginia (89.5). Housing rents are where the gap is widest; every one of them prices rents below the national level. Wages are correspondingly lower, which is why remote workers on a coastal salary capture the largest share of the difference.
Northeast: expensive, but not uniformly
6 of the 9 Northeast states price above the national level: Rhode Island (102.3), Connecticut (103.6), New Hampshire (104.2), Massachusetts (105.8), New York (107.9), New Jersey (108.8). The band is not unbroken. Maine (97.1), Pennsylvania (97.6), Vermont (98.0) sit below 100. Utilities run high across the region: 9 of the 9 price utilities above the US level.
West Coast: all three above
Oregon (103.4), Washington (107.0), California (110.7) all price above the national level, and all three price housing rents above it as well (OR 108.6, WA 126.0, CA 154.3). BEA publishes metro-area parities separately, so a state figure is an average across very different housing markets.
Mountain West: the middle of the range
Nevada (100.0), Arizona (100.7), Colorado (103.1) sit at or above the national level; New Mexico (92.2), Wyoming (92.7), Montana (94.6), Idaho (95.5), Utah (98.9) sit below it. The whole group falls inside a narrow band, and utilities are the component pulling it down: 8 of the 8 price utilities below the US level.
Florida and the Sun Belt: split
Florida (103.4) prices above the national level. South Carolina (93.7), North Carolina (94.3), Georgia (96.3), Texas (97.1) sit below it. Housing rents are the separator: SC 80.5, NC 81.4, GA 88.7, TX 96.5, FL 122.1.
Hawaii and Alaska: not a separate category
Alaska (102.4), Hawaii (110.0). On all items neither is far outside the lower-48 range. The separation shows up in the components instead: utilities at AK 119.0 and HI 190.2 against a US level of 98.4, and goods at AK 106.3 and HI 111.6 against 99.6, both of which reflect shipping everything in.
Reading the table
A price level is not an inflation rate
The table is a level, measured at one point in time. It says what the same consumption basket costs in each state relative to the nation in reference year 2024. It does not say how fast prices are rising anywhere. For change over time, use the cost of living increase page, which carries the BLS CPI figures.
Nothing here should be read as movement. BEA revises the entire 2008-onward series with each annual release, so a state's parity in an older vintage is not comparable with this one. This site holds a single vintage, released February 19, 2026, and asserts no per-state change from it.
The all-items column compresses the picture. The 50 states span only 86.9 to 110.7 on all items, a range of 23.8 points. The components do not: housing rents run 54.2 to 154.3. If housing is an unusually large or small share of your budget, read the housing column rather than the composite.
The parities carry no tax and no insurance. They price consumption, not the cost of holding property. A state can look cheap on all items while carrying a high property tax or, as in Florida, sharply higher homeowners insurance premiums since the reinsurance-market dislocation that followed Hurricane Ian in 2022. Those sit on the taxes and housing pages, not in this table.
Frequently Asked
2026 cost of living rankings, answered
What is the cheapest state to live in for 2026?
Arkansas, with an all-items price parity of 86.9 against a US benchmark of 100, so about 13.1 percent below the national price level. Housing rents are the widest gap: the Arkansas housing parity is 58.2, the median home is $192,800 and a 2-bedroom rents for $830. The five cheapest are Arkansas (86.9), Mississippi (87.0), Iowa (87.8), Oklahoma (87.8), Louisiana (88.2). The cluster is concentrated in the South, Plains and Midwest. The trade-off in all five is below-average median household income; wages typically scale with the local price level.
What is the most expensive state to live in for 2026?
California at 110.7, which is 1.27 times Arkansas. The five dearest are California (110.7), Hawaii (110.0), New Jersey (108.8), New York (107.9), Washington (107.0). Housing rents carry most of the difference in each: CA 154.3, HI 125.3, NJ 134.3, NY 122.2, WA 126.0 against a US housing level of 100.6. The all-items range across all 50 states is only 86.9 to 110.7, so no state is in a category of its own on this measure.
How has cost of living shifted recently?
Two different things move. Nationally, consumer prices keep rising: BLS CPI was running near 3.4 percent year over year by mid-2026 (see our cost-of-living increase page). A price parity is a level, not a change, so broad national inflation lifts everyone's dollar costs without moving a state's parity; a state only moves relative to others when its prices rise faster than the nation's. BEA revises the whole back series with each annual release, so the comparable history changes with the vintage. This site holds a single vintage, reference year 2024 released February 19, 2026, and asserts no per-state movement from it.
How is the cost of living index calculated?
These are the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities by state (table SARPP), reference year 2024. BEA prices the same consumption basket in each state and expresses the result against a US benchmark of 100, so a state at 110 has a price level 10 percent above the nation's. Alongside all items BEA publishes four component parities: goods, services housing (rents), services utilities and services other. It publishes no grocery, healthcare, transportation or miscellaneous parity, and no public category weights, so this site quotes none. The parities do NOT include state and local taxes. See our methodology page for full details on the source data.
Why isn't tax burden included in the index?
Because a price parity measures prices, not government. BEA builds the series to deflate personal income by state into real terms, so it tracks what the same consumption basket costs in each place, not what a household keeps after tax. To get the full picture, layer the parities against state-and-local tax burden data (the Tax Foundation publishes annual rankings) and salary equivalency math. Our two-state calculator and per-state pages combine the price level with tax data to give the complete view.
What does the composite index mean for a household budget?
A 1-point difference in the all-items parity is roughly a 1 percent difference in what the same consumption basket costs. For a household spending $5,000 a month on that basket, a state at 110 costs about $500 more a month than the US level and a state at 90 about $500 less. Read the components before applying it to your own budget: the all-items spread across the 50 states is only 23.8 points, while housing rents run from 54.2 to 154.3. A household with an unusually large or small housing share will not track the all-items figure.
Which state has the cheapest housing in 2026?
West Virginia, with a housing rents parity of 54.2 against a US housing level of 100.6. The five cheapest on housing are West Virginia (54.2), Mississippi (56.5), Arkansas (58.2), Alabama (61.8), Oklahoma (62.8). Median home prices in those five run from $145,600 to $216,500. BEA estimates the housing parity from tenant rents, so it tracks the rental market rather than sale prices, and it is the component where states differ most after utilities.