America's cities tend to be more expensive than other parts of the country. Using recently released data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, we looked at the most and least expensive places to live in the US.
America's big coastal cities are really expensive.
2018-12-28
The Bureau of Economic Analysis recently released data on personal income and the cost of living in 2016 for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan parts of states, including the relative cost of living in different parts of the country.
Regional price parity is an index that sets the national average cost of goods and services at 100, with a particular region's RPP showing how the cost of living in that region compares with that average.
For example, the New York metropolitan area had an RPP of 122 in 2016, meaning the city and its suburbs are about 22% more expensive than the national average.
Meanwhile, Beckley, West Virginia, had an RPP of 78.8, meaning goods and services cost about four-fifths as much as the national average.
Here's a map illustrating the RPP of the country's metropolitan areas and of the parts of states that fall outside of them. Regions in blue are less expensive than the national average, with darker areas indicating the lowest relative cost of living. Those in red are more expensive than average, with darker red showing a higher cost of living.
Business Insider/Andy Kiersz, data from Bureau of Economic Analysis
And here are the 10 most expensive (in red) and least expensive (in blue) metro areas in the US:
Business Insider/Andy Kiersz, data from Bureau of Economic Analysis
Here are the 40 largest metro areas by 2016 population, ranked from most to least expensive, along with their overall regional price parities and RPPs for goods, rent, and non-rent services. Much, but not all, of the disparity in prices among cities comes from rent, rather than other goods and services:
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
Facebook/VisitSanJose
Overall regional price parity: 127.1
Goods RPP: 110.4
Rent RPP: 213.3
Non-rent services RPP: 110.7
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA
canadastock/Shutterstock
Overall regional price parity: 124.7
Goods RPP: 110.7
Rent RPP: 190.9
Non-rent services RPP: 111.0
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA
TTstudio/Shutterstock
Overall regional price parity: 122.0
Goods RPP: 109.9
Rent RPP: 154.9
Non-rent services RPP: 115.9
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
Courtesy of TripAdvisor
Overall regional price parity: 119.1
Goods RPP: 105.4
Rent RPP: 166.4
Non-rent services RPP: 110.7
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
Anton_Ivanov/Shutterstock
Overall regional price parity: 117.7
Goods RPP: 104.8
Rent RPP: 165.4
Non-rent services RPP: 107.4
San Diego-Carlsbad, CA
REUTERS/Desmond Boylan
Overall regional price parity: 116.3
Goods RPP: 100.1
Rent RPP: 167.6
Non-rent services RPP: 105.6
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
Charles Krupa/AP Images
Overall regional price parity: 111.1
Goods RPP: 101.4
Rent RPP: 141.0
Non-rent services RPP: 107.2
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
Overall regional price parity: 110.5
Goods RPP: 106.3
Rent RPP: 134.0
Non-rent services RPP: 104.0
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL
FashionStock.com/Shutterstock
Overall regional price parity: 107.6
Goods RPP: 100.6
Rent RPP: 129.4
Non-rent services RPP: 100.9
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
Jon Bilous/Shutterstock
Overall regional price parity: 107.4
Goods RPP: 101.6
Rent RPP: 117.6
Non-rent services RPP: 106.8
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD
Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
Overall regional price parity: 107.2
Goods RPP: 102.8
Rent RPP: 116.0
Non-rent services RPP: 105.2
Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO
Shutterstock
Overall regional price parity: 106.0
Goods RPP: 100.8
Rent RPP: 127.9
Non-rent services RPP: 99.3
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
iStock / Songquan Deng
Overall regional price parity: 105.9
Goods RPP: 101.2
Rent RPP: 111.3
Non-rent services RPP: 107.9
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI
Sarah Jacobs/Business Insider
Overall regional price parity: 103.8
Goods RPP: 100.1
Rent RPP: 114.8
Non-rent services RPP: 102.2
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
Nic Lehoux
Overall regional price parity: 102.3
Goods RPP: 103.9
Rent RPP: 110.1
Non-rent services RPP: 96.7
Sacramento-Roseville-Arden-Arcade, CA
California Governor Jerry Brown delivers his final state of the state address in Sacramento.
Thomson Reuters
Overall regional price parity: 102.0
Goods RPP: 95.4
Rent RPP: 117.6
Non-rent services RPP: 102.0
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
Shutterstock/Josemaria Toscano
Overall regional price parity: 101.7
Goods RPP: 99.0
Rent RPP: 117.7
Non-rent services RPP: 97.5
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX
Tim Warner/Getty
Overall regional price parity: 101.6
Goods RPP: 96.2
Rent RPP: 103.2
Non-rent services RPP: 107.3
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Overall regional price parity: 100.2
Goods RPP: 99.0
Rent RPP: 103.2
Non-rent services RPP: 99.9
Austin-Round Rock, TX
Kevin Harber/Flickr
Overall regional price parity: 100.0
Goods RPP: 97.9
Rent RPP: 117.2
Non-rent services RPP: 93.4
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
Sean Pavone/Shutterstock
Overall regional price parity: 99.8
Goods RPP: 96.5
Rent RPP: 103.5
Non-rent services RPP: 101.8
Providence-Warwick, RI-MA
Shutterstock
Overall regional price parity: 99.7
Goods RPP: 98.7
Rent RPP: 98.2
Non-rent services RPP: 101.9
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL
Kent Phillips/Disney Parks via Getty Images
Overall regional price parity: 98.0
Goods RPP: 97.9
Rent RPP: 104.8
Non-rent services RPP: 93.4
Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC
Patrickneil / Wikimedia Commons
Overall regional price parity: 97.9
Goods RPP: 97.8
Rent RPP: 104.9
Non-rent services RPP: 93.4
Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV
Shutterstock/Chad Zuber
Overall regional price parity: 97.8
Goods RPP: 95.4
Rent RPP: 96.5
Non-rent services RPP: 102.0
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ
welcomia/Shutterstock
Overall regional price parity: 97.1
Goods RPP: 97.2
Rent RPP: 97.7
Non-rent services RPP: 96.5
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA
Sean Pavone/Shutterstock
Overall regional price parity: 96.3
Goods RPP: 98.3
Rent RPP: 93.5
Non-rent services RPP: 95.9
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI
Wikimedia Commons
Overall regional price parity: 95.9
Goods RPP: 98.2
Rent RPP: 86.7
Non-rent services RPP: 99.3
Jacksonville, FL
Logan Bowles/Getty Images
Overall regional price parity: 95.8
Goods RPP: 97.8
Rent RPP: 95.8
Non-rent services RPP: 93.4
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI
Urban Land Institute
Overall regional price parity: 95.6
Goods RPP: 95.6
Rent RPP: 95.1
Non-rent services RPP: 95.8
San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX
iStock
Overall regional price parity: 94.4
Goods RPP: 97.5
Rent RPP: 90.2
Non-rent services RPP: 93.4
Nashville-Davidson—Murfreesboro—Franklin, TN
Mark Skalny / Shutterstock.com
Overall regional price parity: 94.4
Goods RPP: 97.5
Rent RPP: 90.3
Non-rent services RPP: 93.4
Pittsburgh, PA
ESB Professional/Shutterstock
Overall regional price parity: 94.3
Goods RPP: 98.1
Rent RPP: 78.9
Non-rent services RPP: 98.1
Kansas City, MO-KS
User:Charvex / Wikimedia Commons
Overall regional price parity: 93.7
Goods RPP: 96.5
Rent RPP: 82.4
Non-rent services RPP: 97.1
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC
Sean Pavone/Shutterstock
Overall regional price parity: 93.5
Goods RPP: 97.4
Rent RPP: 86.5
Non-rent services RPP: 93.4
Columbus, OH
Checubus/Shutterstock
Overall regional price parity: 93.0
Goods RPP: 96.9
Rent RPP: 84.2
Non-rent services RPP: 93.4
Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN
IndyCar: 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500-Carb Day
Thomson Reuters
Overall regional price parity: 92.8
Goods RPP: 97.2
Rent RPP: 83.0
Non-rent services RPP: 93.5
St. Louis, MO-IL
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Overall regional price parity: 90.8
Goods RPP: 94.3
Rent RPP: 82.7
Non-rent services RPP: 91.4
Cleveland-Elyria, OH
Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Overall regional price parity: 90.2
Goods RPP: 95.9
Rent RPP: 77.9
Non-rent services RPP: 90.9
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN
Checubus/Shutterstock
Overall regional price parity: 89.6
Goods RPP: 94.6
Rent RPP: 78.7
Non-rent services RPP: 90.9
