National ranking · Top 100 · data updated August 2026

Cities with the Highest Cost of Living (State BEA Index)

This list ranks US cities by their state's BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP) cost-of-living index (US average = 100). BEA publishes the index at state level only, every city in the same state carries the identical figure, so this is a ranking of which states (and their largest tracked cities) sit above the national basket, not a city-specific price survey. Only places with at least 5,000 residents appear.

100
Cities ranked
#1
Los Angeles
110.7
Cost of Living Index (state)

Data updated August 2026

The headline finding

Los Angeles, CA tops this list at 110.7 cost of living index (state), making the top 100 requires at least 110.7.

Los Angeles, CA
#1 · 110.7
110.7
#100 cutoff
100
cities in this ranking

Every figure here is read live from the same U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities (2024) data rendered in the table below.

These 100 cities span 1 states. California has the most entries on this list: 100 (100% of the total). California state page.

How we calculate the state breakdown

The state count and leader above are a live tally of this list's own 100 rows, grouped by state. See the methodology page for the full source-to-figure lineage.

Top 12 cities by cost of living index (state)

Hover or tap a bar for the city, value and rank

Cost of Living Index (state)

What this shows Los Angeles, California ranks #1 on cost of living index (state) among the cities in this ranking; the full top 100 is listed below.

Source U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities (2024), state-level index carried on city rows As of August 2026
#CityCost of Living Index (state)
1Los AngelesCalifornia110.7
2San DiegoCalifornia110.7
3San JoseCalifornia110.7
4San FranciscoCalifornia110.7
5FresnoCalifornia110.7
6SacramentoCalifornia110.7
7Long BeachCalifornia110.7
8OaklandCalifornia110.7
9BakersfieldCalifornia110.7
10AnaheimCalifornia110.7
11StocktonCalifornia110.7
12RiversideCalifornia110.7
13Santa AnaCalifornia110.7
14IrvineCalifornia110.7
15Chula VistaCalifornia110.7
16Santa ClaritaCalifornia110.7
17FremontCalifornia110.7
18San BernardinoCalifornia110.7
19ModestoCalifornia110.7
20FontanaCalifornia110.7
21Moreno ValleyCalifornia110.7
22OxnardCalifornia110.7
23Huntington BeachCalifornia110.7
24GlendaleCalifornia110.7
25OntarioCalifornia110.7
26Elk GroveCalifornia110.7
27Santa RosaCalifornia110.7
28Rancho CucamongaCalifornia110.7
29OceansideCalifornia110.7
30Garden GroveCalifornia110.7
31LancasterCalifornia110.7
32PalmdaleCalifornia110.7
33SalinasCalifornia110.7
34HaywardCalifornia110.7
35CoronaCalifornia110.7
36SunnyvaleCalifornia110.7
37RosevilleCalifornia110.7
38EscondidoCalifornia110.7
39PomonaCalifornia110.7
40TorranceCalifornia110.7
41VisaliaCalifornia110.7
42FullertonCalifornia110.7
43OrangeCalifornia110.7
44PasadenaCalifornia110.7
45VictorvilleCalifornia110.7
46Santa ClaraCalifornia110.7
47Simi ValleyCalifornia110.7
48Thousand OaksCalifornia110.7
49VallejoCalifornia110.7
50ConcordCalifornia110.7
51ClovisCalifornia110.7
52BerkeleyCalifornia110.7
53FairfieldCalifornia110.7
54AntiochCalifornia110.7
55RichmondCalifornia110.7
56East Los AngelesCalifornia110.7
57CarlsbadCalifornia110.7
58DowneyCalifornia110.7
59MurrietaCalifornia110.7
60Costa MesaCalifornia110.7
61TemeculaCalifornia110.7
62San Buenaventura (Ventura)California110.7
63Santa MariaCalifornia110.7
64West CovinaCalifornia110.7
65El MonteCalifornia110.7
66MenifeeCalifornia110.7
67Jurupa ValleyCalifornia110.7
68InglewoodCalifornia110.7
69BurbankCalifornia110.7
70El CajonCalifornia110.7
71RialtoCalifornia110.7
72San MateoCalifornia110.7
73Daly CityCalifornia110.7
74VacavilleCalifornia110.7
75ChicoCalifornia110.7
76NorwalkCalifornia110.7
77HesperiaCalifornia110.7
78VistaCalifornia110.7
79Arden-ArcadeCalifornia110.7
80TracyCalifornia110.7
81San MarcosCalifornia110.7
82ComptonCalifornia110.7
83CarsonCalifornia110.7
84ReddingCalifornia110.7
85Mission ViejoCalifornia110.7
86South GateCalifornia110.7
87ChinoCalifornia110.7
88Santa MonicaCalifornia110.7
89IndioCalifornia110.7
90HemetCalifornia110.7
91WestminsterCalifornia110.7
92MercedCalifornia110.7
93San LeandroCalifornia110.7
94Santa BarbaraCalifornia110.7
95Citrus HeightsCalifornia110.7
96MantecaCalifornia110.7
97HawthorneCalifornia110.7
98WhittierCalifornia110.7
99LivermoreCalifornia110.7
100Lake ForestCalifornia110.7

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (2023 vintage, released December 2024), the underlying dataset behind this ranking spans 28,702 U.S. incorporated places and census-designated places nationally; this page shows the top 100 by cost of living index (state). See our methodology for the full data-collection process.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities (2024), state-level index carried on city rows. Verify directly with the source agency: U.S. Census Bureau, FBI UCR, NOAA, NCES.

Questions about the cities with the highest cost of living list

What does this cities with the highest cost of living ranking measure?

It orders cities by cost of living index (state) using U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities (2024), state-level index carried on city rows. It is a single-metric comparison, not an overall score for quality of life or a recommendation about where to live.

Are metropolitan areas included?

The rows are individual cities or Census-defined places covered by the named source, not combined metropolitan areas. The page states any extra coverage or population rule that applies to this specific cost of living index (state) ranking.

Can I download and verify the ranking?

Yes. The CSV above contains the same ranked rows shown in the table. The page names the source and vintage, links to the source agency, and explains category-specific caveats before the data.

What to do with the cities with the highest cost of living list

Use this ranking to narrow the field, then dig into the specific places you're considering.

  • Los Angeles, CA leads this list at 110.7 -- see its full profile before drawing conclusions from the rank alone. Los Angeles profile
  • Put two specific cities side by side across every tracked metric, not just this one ranking. Compare cities
  • See every ranked city in California together, not just how Los Angeles compares nationally. California state page

This ranking reflects the single cost of living index (state) metric only -- it is not a composite of everything that makes a city a good fit.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Primary sources: Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES.

Related

Browse all city profiles → | Explore city rankings →
Data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCities

Verify with U.S. Census Bureau →

Every figure on PlainCities is rendered directly from Census ACS source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on Census ACS source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.