Cost of living comparison tools

A cost of living comparison can provide guidance about how an increase or decrease in these basic living expenses impacts necessary spending for an individual or a family. The Salary. These are the universally recognized core components of any cost of living estimate and represent those expenses that apply to everyone.

Obviously, there may be other factors that could contribute to your particular cost of living situation and not everyone has the same spending habits.

You can see how your job and your salary will be impacted by a change of location. If you live in one location but work in another, the cost of living calculator will make those adjustments to provide an accurate estimate of the change in COL. Housing is a large part of any cost of the living estimate. This category includes your rent, mortgage payment including interest and property insurance or other fees.

Most households spend the largest share of overall expenses on housing. Average housing costs have recently been increasing everywhere in the United States. There are certain areas of the country where the cost of housing has increased much more rapidly than other locations and the cost of living calculator will help you to identify those locations.

Another category of the cost of living is food. This includes the overall cost of food items purchased in grocery stores and food consumed away from home. The cost of groceries is a significant piece of the cost of living estimate. Transportation is included in the cost of living estimate and consists of any expenses related to travel including commuting. The costs of operating a car, such as gas, maintenance, repairs, tires, insurance, motor vehicle licensing or registration fees are part of the estimate.

The costs of utilizing public transportation are also included in this category. The healthcare category of the cost of living estimate consists of premiums for health insurance, medical care or professional medical services like a physician or dentist, and hospital, prescriptions and other health-related services. Budget tip: It is difficult to budget for healthcare expenses due to the sometimes unexpected nature of the need for healthcare services.

Hopefully, you will remain healthy. The energy category of the cost of living estimate consists of the cost of electricity and other utilities like natural gas or home heating oil. Where you live can impact this category, in very cool or warm locations, energy costs can be much higher than the national average. In some cases, some of your energy costs may be included with rent. Taxes come in the form of income taxes federal, state, city , sales taxes, property taxes, and licenses or fees col lected by various local government entities.

Some taxes, like a sales tax on fuel or food, are included in the overall COL category estimates. While every state has property taxes, these vary considerably from place to place.

There's even greater variation in income taxes. Some states don't have any state-level income tax. Others I'm looking at you, California have high income taxes.

Depending on your circumstances there are several other large expenses that may shape your cost of living. There's the cost of education and whether you'll need to take out student loans to get or complete a college education. There's the cost of childcare if you need it. This could mean the cost of a caregiver who comes to your house, of pre-kindergarten or of after-school daycare. If you or your partner is a stay-at-home parent or if you have extended family helping you out you won't need to shell out for these expenses.

Anyone else will need to budget accordingly. Transportation costs are a major expense for many Americans. Only about one in 20 American workers commute by public transit. The rest take a car. That means paying for repairs, gas and possibly tolls and parking permits. Carpooling can help you cut these costs by sharing them with others. Still, most American commuters ride alone. Transportation is a big factor in the cost of living because it's so closely related to job security. Unreliable transportation can mean a lost job.

Next up is healthcare. Healthcare premiums go from the affordable to the astronomical. Then, there's the cost of the care itself. The same medical procedure can be several times more expensive in some locations than in others. If you have employer-sponsored healthcare you might not have to pay anything for medical insurance.

Despite a decrease in the number of uninsured Americans, medical costs still account for a significant portion of the bankruptcies in this country. That's why it's important to look for insurance you can afford and have an emergency fund to cover unexpected expenses.

Many Americans have nothing left in their budget after paying for the necessities mentioned above. But there are other necessities that aren't captured by food, childcare, medical costs, taxes, transportation and housing. These "extras" include clothing, personal care items and household cleaning products. You could go without some of them for a little while, but they're still necessities. We're talking about things like toothpaste, the clothes you wear to work and the sponge and dish soap you use to clean your dishes.

The good news is that these tangibles have gotten less expensive even as the costs of childcare, housing and medical care have gone up. Items including clothing, cell phones and computers have become relatively more affordable. That may not entirely take the sting out of your rising rent or your high healthcare premiums, but it can help.

Economists consider mobility to be a good thing. If people are willing and able to move they can relocate to take the jobs that are best suited to their skill sets. Understanding the cost of living in a given place helps you make an informed decision about the salary you'll need to maintain the same standard of living.

For example, if you're offered a job in a more expensive city you'll know that you need to hold out for more money if you don't want to experience a dip in your purchasing power. A cost of living calculator can make the research much easier. Zoom between states and the national map to see where people have the most purchasing power.

Methodology Our study identifies the places where average living expenses are most affordable for the people living there. To find these places, we measured the cost of living relative to income to determine the purchasing power in each county. We calculated two different cost of living metrics for a household with one adult and no dependents. We then subtracted income taxes paid in that area. Finally, we calculated purchasing power in each county by determining the weighted cost of living as a percentage of median income.

The top locations were those with the highest median income relative to the cost of living. Home prices, property taxes and monthly rents vary from state to state, city to city, town to town and even neighborhood to neighborhood. According to the BLS, transportation is the second-largest expense consumers have. Food: Weekly trips to the grocery store can add up, especially if food costs are high where you live.

There are ways to trim that down. You could eat out less, cut back on takeout and cook more often. But even then, the price of groceries is going to significantly influence your cost of living.

Entertainment: A movie ticket, a pint of beer, box seats at a baseball game — they can all come with a different price tag depending upon where you live. And it adds up. Americans spend nearly the same amount each year on entertainment as they do on health insurance, according to the BLS. Just like with food costs, you can curb how much you spend on entertainment by altering your behavior.

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