West Virginia and Kansas had the lowest cost of living across all U.S. states, with composite costs being half of those found in Hawaii. This was according to a composite index that compares prices for various goods and services on a state-by-state basis. In West Virginia, the cost of living index amounted to 84.8 - well below the national benchmark of 100. Nevada - which had an index value of 100.1 - was only slightly above that benchmark. Expensive places to live included Hawaii, Massachusetts, and California Housing costs in the U.S. Housing is usually the highest expense in a household’s budget. In 2023, the average house sold for approximately 427,000 U.S. dollars, but house prices in the Northeast and West regions were significantly higher. Conversely, the South had some of the least expensive housing. In West Virginia, Mississippi, and Louisiana, the median price of the typical single-family home was less than 200,000 U.S. dollars. That makes living costs in these states significantly lower than in states such as Hawaii and California, where housing is much more expensive. What other expenses affect the cost of living? Utility costs such as electricity, natural gas, water, and internet also influence the cost of living. In Alaska, Hawaii, and Connecticut, the average monthly utility cost exceeded 500 U.S. dollars. That was because of the significantly higher prices for electricity and natural gas in these states.

This statistic shows the average increase in cost to live alone in one- to three- bedroom rental units in the United States in 2017, by state. Georgia was the most expensive state in which to rent alone, as it cost on average 136.2 percent more to live alone there than with roommates.

Ireland: Cost of living index, world average = 100: The latest value from 2021 is 175.68 index points, an increase from 157.19 index points in 2017. In comparison, the world average is 79.81 index points, based on data from 165 countries. Historically, the average for Ireland from 2017 to 2021 is 166.44 index points. The minimum value, 157.19 index points, was reached in 2017 while the maximum of 175.68 index points was recorded in 2021.

In 2023, Thailand had a cost of living index score of 40.7, indicating a slight decrease compared to the previous year. In the Asia Pacific region, Seoul, the capital city of South Korea, had the highest cost of living index in that year.

In the United States, Hawaii was the state with the most expensive housing, with the typical value of single-family homes in the 35th to 65th percentile range exceeding 981,000 U.S. dollars. Unsurprisingly, Hawaii also ranked top as the state with the highest cost of living. Meanwhile, a property was the least expensive in West Virginia, where it cost under 167,000 U.S. dollars to buy the typical single-family home. Single-family home prices increased across most states in the United States between December 2023 and December 2024, except in Louisiana, Florida, and the District of Colombia. According to the Federal Housing Association, house appreciation in 13 states exceeded nine percent in 2023.

The cost of living is spiraling. Prices are going up, household expenses are rising, and the U.S. inflation rate reached a 40-year record high in 2023. Many consumers are looking for new ways to deal with this situation and refer to social media for support. So, which social media platforms have the most helpful content to deal with the current cost of living crisis in the U.S.? According to an exclusive survey by We Are Social and Statista Q, around 61 percent of TikTok users in the United States find helpful content there. Coming on number second is YouTube, as 56 percent of YouTube users find life hacks, tricks, money saving tips and other suitable advice to deal with inflation in 2023.

In 2024, Singapore's cost of living index was at 81.9, compared to that of New York City as a base of 100. This meant that Singapore was about 20 percent more affordable than New York City. With a local purchasing power index of 103, residents with an average salary in Singapore are able to afford more goods and services compared to the base city of New York City. In that year, Singapore had the highest cost of living index in Asia.

Abstract

China Living Standards Survey (CLSS) consists of one household survey and one community (village) survey, conducted in Hebei and Liaoning Provinces (northern and northeast China) in July 1995 and July 1997 respectively. Five villages from each three sample counties of each province were selected (six were selected in Liaoyang County of Liaoning Province because of administrative area change). About 880 farm households were selected from total thirty-one sample villages for the household survey. The same thirty-one villages formed the samples of community survey. This document provides information on the content of different questionnaires, the survey design and implementation, data processing activities, and the different available data sets.

Geographic coverage

The China Living Standards Survey (CLSS) was conducted only in Hebei and Liaoning Provinces (northern and northeast China).

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The CLSS sample is not a rigorous random sample drawn from a well-defined population. Instead it is only a rough approximation of the rural population in Hebei and Liaoning provinces in Northeastern China. The reason for this is that part of the motivation for the survey was to compare the current conditions with conditions that existed in Hebei and Liaoning in the 1930’s. Because of this, three counties in Hebei and three counties in Liaoning were selected as "primary sampling units" because data had been collected from those six counties by the Japanese occupation government in the 1930’s. Within each of these six counties (xian) five villages (cun) were selected, for an overall total of 30 villages (in fact, an administrative change in one village led to 31 villages being selected). In each county a "main village" was selected that was in fact a village that had been surveyed in the 1930s. Because of the interest in these villages 50 households were selected from each of these six villages (one for each of the six counties). In addition, four other villages were selected in each county. These other villages were not drawn randomly but were selected so as to "represent" variation within the county. Within each of these villages 20 households were selected for interviews. Thus the intended sample size was 780 households, 130 from each county.

Unlike county and village selection, the selection of households within each village was done according to standard sample selection procedures. In each village, a list of all households in the village was obtained from village leaders. An "interval" was calculated as the number of the households in the village divided by the number of households desired for the sample (50 for main villages and 20 for other villages). For the list of households, a random number was drawn between 1 and the interval number. This was used as a starting point. The interval was then added to this number to get a second number, then the interval was added to this second number to get a third number, and so on. The set of numbers produced were the numbers used to select the households, in terms of their order on the list.

In fact, the number of households in the sample is 785, as opposed to 780. Most of this difference is due to a village in which 24 households were interviewed, as opposed to the goal of 20 households

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

Household Questionnaire

The household questionnaire contains sections that collect data on household demographic structure, education, housing conditions, land, agricultural management, household non-agricultural business, household expenditures, gifts, remittances and other income sources, and saving and loans. For some sections (general household information, schooling, housing, gift-exchange, remittance, other income, and credit and savings) the individual designated by the household members as the household head provided responses. For some other sections (farm land, agricultural management, family-run non-farm business, and household consumption expenditure) a member identified as the most knowledgeable provided responses. Identification codes for respondents of different sections indicate who provided the information. In sections where the information collected pertains to individuals (employment), whenever possible, each member of the household was asked to respond for himself or herself, except that parents were allowed to respond for younger children. Therefore, in the case of the employment section it is possible that the information was not provided by the relevant person; variables in this section indicate when this is true.

The household questionnaire was completed in a one-time interview in the summer of 1995. The survey was designed so that more sensitive issues such as credit and savings were discussed near the end. The content of each section is briefly described below.

Section 0 SURVEY INFORMATION

This section mainly summarizes the results of the survey visits. The following information was entered into the computer: whether the survey and the data entry were completed, codes of supervisor’s brief comments on interviewer, data entry operator, and related revising suggestion (e.g., 1. good, 2. revise at office, and 3. re-interview needed). Information about the date of interview, the names of interviewer, supervisor, data enterer, and detail notes of interviewer and supervisor were not entered into the computer.

Section 1 GENERAL HOUSEHOLD INFORMATION

1A HOUSEHOLD STRUCTURE 1B INFORMATION ABOUT THE HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS’ PARENTS 1C INFORMATION ABOUT THE CHILDREN WHO ARE NOT LIVING IN HOME

Section 1A lists the personal id code, sex, relationship to the household head, ethnic group, type of resident permit (agricultural [nongye], non-agricultural [fei nongye], or no resident permit), date of birth, marital status of all people who spent the previous night in that household and for household members who are temporarily away from home. The household head is listed first and receives the personal id code 1. Household members were defined to include “all the people who normally live and eat their meals together in this dwelling.” Those who were absent more than nine of the last twelve months were excluded, except for the head of household. For individuals who are married and whose spouse resides in the household, the personal id number of the spouse is noted. By doing so, information on the spouse can be collected by appropriately merging information from the section 1A and other parts of the survey.

Section 1B collects information on the parents of all household members. For individuals whose parents reside in the household, parents’ personal id numbers are noted, and information can be obtained by appropriately merging information from other parts of the survey. For individuals whose parents do not reside in the household, information is recorded on whether each parent is alive, as well as their schooling and occupation.

Section 1C collects information for children of household members who are not living in home. Children who have died are not included. The information on the name, sex, types of resident permit, age, education level, education cost, reasons not living in home, current living place, and type of job of each such child is recorded.

Section 2 SCHOOLING

In Section 2, information about literacy and numeracy, school attendance, completion, and current enrollment for all household members of preschool age and older. The interpretation of pre-school age appears to have varied, with the result that while education information is available for some children of pre-school age, not all pre-school children were included in this section. But for ages 6 and above information is available for nearly all individuals, so in essence the data on schooling can be said to apply all persons 6 age and above. For those who were enrolled in school at the time of the survey, information was also collected on school attendance, expenses, and scholarships. If applicable, information on serving as an apprentice, technical or professional training was also collected.

Section 3 EMPLOYMENT

3A GENERAL INFORMATION 3B MAJOR NON-FARM JOB IN 1994 3C THE SECOND NON-FARM JOB IN 1994 3D OTHER EMPLOYMENT ACTIVITIES IN 1994 3E SEARCHING FOR NON-FARM JOB 3F PROCESS FOR GETTING MAJOR NON-FARM JOB 3G CORVEE LABOR

All individuals age thirteen and above were asked to respond to the employment activity questions in Section 3. Section 3A collects general information on farm and non-farm employment, such as whether or not the household member worked on household own farm in 1994, when was the last year the member worked on own farm if he/she did not work in 1994, work days and hours during busy season, occupation and sector codes of the major, second, and third non-farm jobs, work days and total income of these non-farm jobs. There is a variable which indicates whether or not the individual responded for himself or herself.

Sections 3B and 3C collect detailed information on the major and the second non-farm job. Information includes number of months worked and which month in 1994 the member worked on these jobs, average works days (or hours) per month (per day), total number of years worked for these jobs by the end of 1994, different components of income, type of employment contracts. Information on employer’s ownership type and location was also collected.

Section 3D collects information on average hours spent doing chores and housework at home every day during non-busy and busy season. The chores refer to cooking, laundry, cleaning, shopping, cutting woods, as well as small-scale farm yard animals raising, for example, pigs or chickens. Large-scale animal

Important Note: This item is in mature support as of June 2023 and will be retired in December 2025. This map shows the average household income in the U.S. in 2022 in a multiscale map by country, state, county, ZIP Code, tract, and block group. Information for the average household income is an estimate of income for calendar year 2022. Income amounts are expressed in current dollars, including an adjustment for inflation or cost-of-living increases.The pop-up is configured to include the following information for each geography level:Average household incomeMedian household incomeCount of households by income groupAverage household income by householder age groupPermitted use of this data is covered in the DATA section of the Esri Master Agreement (E204CW) and these supplemental terms.

Average Monthly Household Expenditure: Metro Municipality: Consumption: Restaurants and Accomodation Services data was reported at 468,694.000 IDR in 2018. Average Monthly Household Expenditure: Metro Municipality: Consumption: Restaurants and Accomodation Services data is updated yearly, averaging 468,694.000 IDR from Dec 2018 (Median) to 2018, with 1 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 468,694.000 IDR in 2018 and a record low of 468,694.000 IDR in 2018. Average Monthly Household Expenditure: Metro Municipality: Consumption: Restaurants and Accomodation Services data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Statistics Indonesia. The data is categorized under Indonesia Premium Database’s Domestic Trade and Household Survey – Table ID.HB004: Cost of Living Survey (SBH-2018): Average Monthly Household Expenditure: by Cities and Commodities Group.

This statistic shows the most affordable metro areas in the Unites States in 2017, by share of income spent on living expenses. In 2017, Omaha was the second most affordable metro area because 25.18 percent of the median blending annual household income was spent on the average cost of owning or renting a home as well the average cost of utilities and taxes.

Apartment prices in Tel Aviv are the highest among the major cities in Israel. In the first quarter of 2023, the average cost of dwellings in Tel Aviv amounted to over 4.2 million Israeli shekels (roughly 1.13 million U.S. dollars). That was a slight rise compared to the previous quarter. The average price of apartments in the city slightly fluctuated but overall increased during the observed period. Due to the high housing prices in the city, many who wish to live in the city can afford only rented housing. The The number of households  living in rented dwellings in Tel Aviv amounted to 110,000 in 2020, making it the most common type of residency that year.  

High demand for housing in Tel Aviv 

Tel Aviv is the financial and cultural capital of Israel. Important companies in the Israeli economy and most of the influential cultural institutions in Israel are located in the city. As a result, many are interested in living in the city permanently, so housing prices remain high and even rise. Tel Aviv is the most important city in the Israeli high-tech industry, one of the most essential industries in the Israeli economy. As a result, many of the industry workers live in the city. In 2022, StartupBlink ranked Tel Aviv first in its list of leading cities for startups in Israel, with a score of 54.89. 

Residence in Jerusalem and Haifa is more affordable 

Jerusalem, the largest city in Israel, offers more affordable housing than Tel Aviv. In the first quarter of 2023, the aaverage price of apartments in Jerusalem amounted to just over 2.5 million Israeli shekels (around 673,000 U.S. dollars). Although the price is lower than in Tel Aviv, many Israelis hesitate to reside there. Jerusalem has a traditional character; therefore, it has fewer leisure and nightlife options than Tel Aviv can offer. The standard price of dwellings in Haifa, the largest city in the northern part of Israel, is lower than both towns. In the same quarter, it reached almost 1.64 million Israeli shekels (approximately 440,000 U.S. dollars).

Explore the impact of inflation in Japan on living costs, with households and businesses facing increasing financial pressures amid rising prices for essentials.

The average monthly cost for senior housing in the U.S. in 2024 was the highest for memory care and the lowest for independent living facilities. In the fourth quarter of the year, the average monthly cost for independent living housing was 3,269 U.S. dollars. That nearly 550 U.S. dollars (20 percent) higher than in the first quarter of 2019. Senior housing costs also vary vastly across different states.

Average price for a live chicken varies depending on various factors such as location, breed, size, and current market conditions. The price also tends to fluctuate seasonally, with higher prices often observed during festive periods and certain times of the year. In the United States, for example, the average price for a live chicken ranges from $3 to $30, depending on the breed and size. Common breeds such as the White Leghorn or Rhode Island Red usually cost around $3 to $5 per live chicken. On the other

Symbols in bright yellow represent areas where more seniors with burdensome housing costs are renters, whereas symbols that are blue represent areas with more owners. Map has national coverage but opens in Milwaukee. Use the map's bookmarks or the search bar to view other cities. Bookmarks include what are generally thought of as "affordable" cities - Fresno, Salt Lake City, New Orleans, Albuquerque, El Paso, Tusla, Raleigh, Milwaukee - but yet there are many seniors whose housing costs are 30 percent or more of their income. "The burden of housing costs combined with climbing health care expenses can significantly reduce financial security at older ages" according to the Urban Institute. The number of senior households is projected to grow in the coming years, making the issue of economic security for seniors even more pressing.Housing costs are defined as burdensome if they exceed 30 percent of monthly income, a widely-used definition by HUD and others in affordable housing discussions. For owners, monthly housing costs include payments for mortgages and all other debts on the property; real estate taxes; fire, hazard, and flood insurance; utilities; fuels; and condominium or mobile home fees.For renters, monthly housing costs include contract rent plus the estimated average monthly cost of utilities (electricity, gas, and water and sewer) and fuels (oil, coal, kerosene, wood, etc.) if these are paid by the renter.Income is defined as the sum of wage/salary income; net self-employment income; interest/dividends/net rental/royalty income/income from estates & trusts; Social Security/Railroad Retirement income; Supplemental Security Income (SSI); public assistance/welfare payments; retirement/survivor/disability pensions; & all other income.Only households with a householder who is 65 and over are included in these maps. The householder is a person in whose name the home is owned, being bought, or rented, and how answers the questionnaire as person 1.This map is multi-scale, with data for states, counties, and tracts. This map uses these hosted feature layers containing the most recent American Community Survey data. These layers are part of the ArcGIS Living Atlas, and are updated every year when the American Community Survey releases new estimates, so values in the map always reflect the newest data available.

Singapore and New York were ranked as the most expensive cities worldwide with an index of 100 out of a possible 100. Three of the 11 most expensive cities were in the United States, whereas two were in Switzerland.

Alaska, Hawaii, and Connecticut were the states with the highest average monthly utility costs in the United States in 2023. Residents paid about 133.89 U.S. dollars for their electricity bills in Hawaii, while the average monthly bill for natural gas came to 164 U.S. dollars. This was significantly higher than in any other state. Bigger homes have higher utility costs Despite regional variations, single-family homes in the United States have grown bigger in size since 1975. This trend also means that, unless homeowners invest in energy savings measures, they will have to pay more for their utility costs. Which are the most affordable states to live in? According to the cost of living index, the three most affordable states to live in are Mississippi, Kansas, and Oklahoma. At the other end of the scale are Hawaii, District of Columbia, and New York. The index is based on housing, utilities, grocery items, transportation, health care, and miscellaneous goods and services. To buy a median priced home in Kansas City, a prospective home buyer will have to earn an annual salary of about 76,000 U.S. dollars.

As of September 2024, Mumbai had the highest cost of living among other cities in the country, with an index value of 26.5. Gurgaon, a satellite city of Delhi and part of the National Capital Region (NCR) followed it with an index value of 25.1.  What is cost of living? The cost of living varies depending on geographical regions and factors that affect the cost of living in an area include housing, food, utilities, clothing, childcare, and fuel among others. The cost of living is calculated based on different measures such as the consumer price index (CPI), living cost indexes, and wage price index. CPI refers to the change in the value of consumer goods and services. The wage price index, on the other hand, measures the change in labor services prices due to market pressures. Lastly, the living cost indexes calculate the impact of changing costs on different households. The relationship between wages and costs determines affordability and shifts in the cost of living. Mumbai tops the list Mumbai usually tops the list of most expensive cities in India. As the financial and entertainment hub of the country, Mumbai offers wide opportunities and attracts talent from all over the country. It is the second-largest city in India and has one of the most expensive real estates in the world.

More than every third worker from Ukraine earned in Poland between three thousand zloty and four thousand zloty net in 2023. The cost of living in Poland for every third Ukrainian worker oscillated between 200 and 1000 zloty.