Cost of living data, ready to cite
Free, structured cost of living data for 32,000+ US cities and 3,144 US counties. All sourced from federal datasets (Census ACS, BLS, HUD, FEMA, CDC, NOAA, EPA). No paywall, no signup, no usage caps. Citation under CC BY 4.0.
At a glance
What's in the data
Housing
Median home value, median gross rent, owner-occupied %, price-to-rent ratio, HUD Fair Market Rent by bedroom count, Zillow ZHVI/ZORI where available.
Income & jobs
Median household income, per capita income, unemployment rate, poverty rate, labor force participation.
Taxes
State income tax (top rate), state and local sales tax, effective property tax rate (Tax Foundation 2025 vintage).
County health (CDC PLACES)
Adult obesity rate, diabetes prevalence, smoking rate, high blood pressure, depression, insufficient sleep, annual checkup rate — all county-level.
Natural hazards (FEMA NRI)
County-level overall risk score plus per-hazard scores: flood, hurricane, wildfire, tornado, earthquake, winter storm, drought.
Climate (NOAA)
Monthly temperature highs/lows, precipitation, snowfall — from 1991-2020 Climate Normals.
Air quality (EPA)
Median AQI by county, % of good air days per year.
Story angles we can support with data
Concrete ideas we already have the numbers for. Email us and we'll send the underlying CSVs.
Where $100K still buys a real life
The 15 states with the strongest housing-cost-adjusted purchasing power for a six-figure salary, and the 10 states where it's worth the least. Existing study.
The inland-vs-coastal repricing
FEMA hazard scores by county, cross-referenced with home values, suggesting which inland markets are likely to see relative price pressure as coastal insurance premiums continue to rise. Existing study.
Cities where renters get the most for their money
Rent burden as a percentage of local median income, top 50 best and worst US cities. Existing study.
The no-income-tax mirage
All 9 no-income-tax states compared on home value, property tax, sales tax, and median income — showing where the tax savings actually hold up and where they don't. Existing study.
We can run a custom cut
Have a specific angle? Email us with the pitch and we'll pull a custom dataset (CSV, public Google Sheet, or in-line table) within 24-48 hours. No charge, attribution requested.
How to access the data
- Browse on-site. Every city, county, and state has a dedicated page with all data tables visible and citable inline.
- Per-page lookups. Use the search bar on the homepage or visit /cost-of-living/ to browse by state.
- Bulk CSV / JSON. Email hello@costoflivingdata.com with your beat and the slice you need. We'll send the relevant cuts within 24-48 hours.
- Embed our charts. Every study page has SVG bar charts that can be screenshot or embedded. All under CC BY 4.0.
How to cite
Standard inline citation:
For an embedded chart or table, please link to the specific study or city page from which the figures were drawn (e.g., costoflivingdata.com/studies/100k-goes-furthest/).
Underlying federal datasets are in the public domain. Our compilations, rankings, and written analyses are licensed under CC BY 4.0.
License
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
You may share, adapt, and reuse our compilations, rankings, study text, charts, and tables for any purpose — including commercial use — as long as you provide attribution.
Required attribution: a credit line that names "CostOfLivingData" and links to costoflivingdata.com or to the specific page you sourced.
Underlying federal data (Census ACS, BLS, HUD, FEMA, CDC, NOAA, EPA) is in the public domain and not subject to our license. Tax Foundation and Zillow data follows their respective terms.
About the editor
The site is run by Eric Samuels, who started CostOfLivingData while researching towns and housing markets for a personal move out of apartment living. The full editorial process, methodology, and source list is on the about page.
We don't take sponsorships, run affiliate links, or have commercial relationships with real estate agents, relocation companies, or any of the data sources cited above.
Working on a story?
Email us with your angle and the slice of data you need. We respond within 24-48 hours, no charge, attribution requested. We're happy to pull custom CSVs, run cross-tabulations, or just answer questions about the methodology.
hello@costoflivingdata.com