About CostOfCity
Data-driven cost transparency for every major US city.
Our Mission
CostOfCity exists to answer one question honestly: how much does it really cost to live, work, and run a business in any US city? We believe everyone deserves access to clear, reliable cost data before making life-changing decisions like relocating, starting a business, or planning a budget.
Too often, cost-of-living information is vague, outdated, or hidden behind paywalls. We pull data directly from federal agencies and present it in a straightforward, comparable format across 300+ cities and 38 cost topics.
Our Data Sources
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
Occupational salary data, consumer price indices, and employment statistics covering 830 occupations across 530 metro areas.
U.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey data including median household income, rent estimates, population demographics, and business patterns.
HUD Fair Market Rents
Department of Housing and Urban Development rental rates used by federal housing assistance programs across every metro area.
Energy Information Administration (EIA)
Department of Energy data on electricity rates, natural gas prices, and fuel costs by state and region.
IRS Statistics of Income
Tax filing data providing insights into income distribution, tax burden, and economic patterns by zip code and metro area.
Our Vision
Comprehensive Coverage
Cover every meaningful cost category — home services, insurance, legal fees, business startup, and salaries — grounded in verifiable federal data.
Historical Trends
Add year-over-year cost trend analysis so you can see how costs are changing over time in any city.
Personalized Calculators
Interactive calculators that estimate personalized costs based on your specific situation and location.
Editorial Standards
Data Accuracy
Every cost figure on CostOfCity traces back to a named federal dataset. We do not publish user-submitted estimates, scrape third-party sites, or generate synthetic data. Cost indices are calculated using documented methodology that anyone can audit on our methodology page.
Update Schedule
We process new federal data within two weeks of each agency's release. BLS wage estimates update annually (typically May), Census ACS data in September, HUD FMRs in October, and EIA energy prices monthly. All pages show when data was last verified.
Independence
CostOfCity does not accept payment from cities, real estate companies, or service providers to alter rankings or cost data. Our revenue comes from advertising, not from the entities we report on.
Why Trust CostOfCity?
Federal Sources Only
All data comes from BLS, Census Bureau, HUD, and EIA — the same sources economists and policymakers rely on.
Transparent Methodology
Our calculation formulas, data sources, and update schedules are fully documented and publicly available.
Quarterly Updates
Cost data is refreshed every quarter as new federal datasets are published, keeping figures current.
Free & Open Access
No paywalls, no account requirements. Every data page is freely accessible to everyone.
Get In Touch
Have feedback, corrections, or data suggestions? We welcome contributions that help make CostOfCity more accurate and useful.
hello@costofcity.com