Cheapest States to Live
All 50 states ranked by cost of living index, lowest first.
Data: 2026-Q2 · BLS · HUD · KFF Mississippi · MS
2 COL index COL 83
West Virginia · WV
3 COL index COL 83
Arkansas · AR
COL index COL 85
Rankings derived from Census ACS 2024, Tax Foundation 2025, and C2ER Cost of Living Index.
FAQ
Cheapest States to Live — FAQ
How are these rankings calculated?
Cheapest States to Live is ranked by col index, computed at build time directly from verified public data. Rankings derived from Census ACS 2024, Tax Foundation 2025, and C2ER Cost of Living Index. Only the top 3 are shown here.
Why does this only show 3 states?
Top Rankings highlights the top 3 in each category. The underlying ranking is computed the same way for every tracked location; this page focuses on the leaders.