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 **** — well below the national benchmark of 100. Virginia— which had an index value of ***** — 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 ******* 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 ******* U.S. dollars. That makes living expenses in these states significantly lower than in states such as Hawaii and California, where housing is much pricier. 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 *** U.S. dollars. That was because of the significantly higher prices for electricity and natural gas in these states.
Hawaii is the state with the highest household electricity price in the United States. In February 2025, the average retail price of electricity for Hawaiian residences amounted to 41.11 U.S. cents per kilowatt-hour. California followed in second, with 32.41 U.S. cents per kilowatt-hour. Meanwhile, Utah registered the lowest price in the period, at around 12.41 U.S. cents per kilowatt-hour. Why is electricity so expensive in Hawaii? Fossil fuels, and specifically oil, account for approximately 80 percent of Hawaii’s electricity mix, so the electricity price in this state can be roughly brought down to the price of oil in the country. Oil was by far the most expensive fossil fuel used for electricity generation in the country. As Hawaii depends on oil imports, the cost of transportation and infrastructure must be added to the oil price. Electricity prices worldwide The U.S. retail price for electricity increased almost every year since 1990. In 2024, it stood at 13 U.S. cents per kilowatt-hour, almost double the charge put on electricity back in 1990. However, household electricity prices are around 25 U.S. dollar cents per kilowatt-hour lower in the U.S. when compared to European countries reliant on energy imports, such as Germany and Italy.
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 ******* 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 ******* 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 **** percent in 2023.
More than one minimum wage job was required to afford two-bedroom housing in all states in the United States in 2024. At mean wage, Hawaii was the most expensive state requiring renters to hold about *** full-time jobs at a mean wage to afford two-bedroom housing. The fair market rent value of *** bedroom housing in Hawaii ranked ****** most expensive among all states in the United States in 2024.
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A comprehensive dataset of average residential, commercial, and combined electricity rates in cents per kWh for all 50 U.S. states.
A table listing the average electricity rates (kWh) of all 50 U.S. states as of August 2025.
Freeze-dried pet food was the most expensive type of specialized pet food in the United States. One pound of freeze-dried pet food would set consumers back over **** U.S. dollars in 2023. Frozen pet food ranked as the second most expensive category.
Of the most populous cities in the U.S., San Jose, California had the highest annual income requirement at ******* U.S. dollars annually for homeowners to have an affordable and comfortable life in 2024. This can be compared to Houston, Texas, where homeowners needed an annual income of ****** U.S. dollars in 2024.
Alaska, Hawaii, and Connecticut were the states with the highest average monthly utility costs in the United States in 2023. Residents paid about ****** U.S. dollars for their electricity bills in Hawaii, while the average monthly bill for natural gas came to *** 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 ****** U.S. dollars.
In the last quarter of 2024, three of the ten most expensive cities in the United States for business travel when it comes to food costs were located in California. However, the ranking was topped by Honolulu, which average daily food cost amounted to *** U.S. dollars at that time.
In the fourth quarter of 2022, the most expensive city for business travel in the Americas (excluding the United States) was Toronto, with daily costs amounting to nearly *** U.S. dollars. San Juan, Puerto Rico's capital, followed in the ranking, with daily costs for hotels, food, and transportation reaching an average of around *** U.S. dollars.
As of January 2025, the rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Hawaii was about *** U.S. dollars higher than in California. The states of Hawaii and California ranked as the most expensive within the United States for apartment renters. Conversely, an apartment in Arkansas was almost ***** times more affordable than one in Hawaii.In 2025, the average monthly rent in the U.S. declined slightly. Nevertheless, in rents increased in most states, with West Virginia registering the highest growth.
As of October 2024, the city with the most expensive hotel rate in the United States was Boston. Visitors to the East Coast city could expect to pay 320 U.S. dollars for a doube room during that period. Meanwhile, New York ranked third with an average rate of 284 U.S. dollars.
This statistic shows the leading ten U.S. states with the highest cotton production in 2024. In that year, Texas was estimated to produce about *** million bales of cotton. The United States in total were ranked as third leading cotton producing country worldwide in 2023/2024. Cotton production The production of cotton is one of the United States’ most important industries. The country was the world’s third largest cotton producer after China and India, as well as the leading global cotton exporter in 2022/2023. In terms of cotton production by state, U.S. cotton is mostly grown and harvested in the Southern states, also known as the “Cotton Belt” where cotton plantations were established in the 1800s. More than *** billion U.S. dollars’ worth of cotton was produced in Texas in 2022. Upland cotton is the nation’s most commonly cultivated variety of cotton. American Pima, a finer and more expensive cotton fiber, is mainly cultivated in Arizona and California. In 2023, the United States allocated some ***** million acres of land for planting cotton. Approximately ***** million bales of cotton were produced that year.Cotton is typically used in the production of textiles. Hence Bangladesh, a leader in textile manufacturing, was the largest cotton importer in 2022/2023.
Cities in the United States dominate the list of cities with the highest rents worldwide. New York was ranked as the most expensive city to rent in, ahead of San Francisco, with an index score of ***. Boston followed in third.
The university in the United States with the largest endowment market value in 2024 was Harvard University, with an endowment fund value of about 51.98 billion U.S. dollars. U.S. higher education Colleges and universities in the United States rank highly among the world’s most prestigious institutions of higher education. Many universities are particularly well known for their strong research capabilities and their connections to many Nobel Prize winning laureates.The U.S. university system is largely decentralized. Except for service academies and staff colleges, the federal government does not directly regulate universities; public universities are administered solely by the individual states. Besides the state administered public universities, there are many private universities in the United States, most are non-profit institutions, similar to the public universities, but there are also a number of institutions that rely on profit (Walden University in Minnesota, for example).In general, tuition fees are required to be paid by students at American universities. Public universities generally charge lower tuition rates to in-state students, than to out-of-state students. Private universities are often much more expensive than public ones because they do not receive funding from state governments.American students are often required to take out student loans to supplement scholarships and grants provided by diverse sources to be able to pay for tuition. Student debt has become a major issue in the United States in recent years, with many Americans unsure if they can even afford to pay off their student loans in the future.
Portugal, Canada, and the United States were the countries with the highest house price to income ratio in 2024. In all three countries, the index exceeded 130 index points, while the average for all OECD countries stood at 116.2 index points. The index measures the development of housing affordability and is calculated by dividing nominal house price by nominal disposable income per head, with 2015 set as a base year when the index amounted to 100. An index value of 120, for example, would mean that house price growth has outpaced income growth by 20 percent since 2015. How have house prices worldwide changed since the COVID-19 pandemic? House prices started to rise gradually after the global financial crisis (2007–2008), but this trend accelerated with the pandemic. The countries with advanced economies, which usually have mature housing markets, experienced stronger growth than countries with emerging economies. Real house price growth (accounting for inflation) peaked in 2022 and has since lost some of the gain. Although, many countries experienced a decline in house prices, the global house price index shows that property prices in 2023 were still substantially higher than before COVID-19. Renting vs. buying In the past, house prices have grown faster than rents. However, the home affordability has been declining notably, with a direct impact on rental prices. As people struggle to buy a property of their own, they often turn to rental accommodation. This has resulted in a growing demand for rental apartments and soaring rental prices.
In 2023, San Francisco was the city with the highest land prices in the United States at approximately *********** U.S. dollars per acre. Other cities in California such as San Jose and Los Angeles were at the top of the ranking, along with Urban Honolulu and New York City. Austin was the only Texan city that made it into the ranking.
Gasoline prices in the United States have experienced significant fluctuations over the past three decades, with 2024 seeing an average price of 3.3 U.S. dollars per gallon. This marks a notable decrease from the record high of 3.95 U.S. dollars per gallon in 2022, yet remains considerably higher than prices seen in the early 2000s. Despite this, American consumers continue to enjoy relatively low gasoline prices compared to many other countries, with some European countries paying more than double the U.S. average. Drivers in Hawaii and California pay the most at the pump Gasoline prices vary significantly across the United States, with Hawaii and California consistently ranking as the most expensive states for this fuel. As of January 1, 2025, Hawaii's average price for regular gasoline was 4.54 U.S. dollars per gallon, nearly 1.5 dollars above the national average. California's high prices are largely attributed to its steep gasoline taxes, which reached 68.1 U.S. cents per gallon in January 2024. These taxes play a crucial role in shaping retail prices and are typically reinvested in road infrastructure, demonstrating the direct link between fuel costs and transportation development. Patterns in gasoline consumption In a global context, the United States maintains some of the lowest conventional motor fuel prices among high-income countries. This is largely due to its position as the world's largest crude oil producer, allowing it to keep retail prices comparatively low. Despite fluctuations in price, gasoline consumption in the U.S. remains robust, averaging around 8.5 million barrels per day in 2024. Consumption tends to be highest in the summer months and lowest in the winter months due to changing driving behavior.
The median house prices in the most expensive zip codes in California reached as high as *** million U.S dollars. Atherton (94027), had the most expensive median house price, followed by Santa Barbara (93108), and Beverly Hills (90210). Six of the ranked zip codes were among the top ten most expensive zip codes in the United States in 2023.
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 **** — well below the national benchmark of 100. Virginia— which had an index value of ***** — 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 ******* 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 ******* U.S. dollars. That makes living expenses in these states significantly lower than in states such as Hawaii and California, where housing is much pricier. 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 *** U.S. dollars. That was because of the significantly higher prices for electricity and natural gas in these states.