The Bureau of Economic Analysis has put together their estimates for how much it cost to live in cities and rural communities throughout America. The findings come from juggling 2017’s prices of “goods and services” in comparison to the average price nationally. Not surprisingly, cities on the coasts were more expensive than the rest of the nation, and of the top 15 of the most expensive cities in the nation, 9 were in California.
14 (tied) Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH –11.8% higher than the national average
14 (tied) Seattle-Tacoma-Bellvue, WA –11.8% higher
13 San Diego-Carlsbad, CA –16% higher
11 (tied) Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA –17.1% higher
11 (tied) Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA –17.1% higher
10 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA –18.45 higher
9 Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT –19.1% higher
8 Vallejo-Fairfield, CA –20.0% higher
7 New York-Newark, NY-NJ –22.3% higher
6 Santa Rosa, CA –23.5% higher
5 Napa, CA –23.6% higher
4 Honolulu, HI –24.7% higher
3 Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA –27.6% higher
2 San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA –28.0% higher
1 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA –30.9% higher
If you’re looking for cheap, then you might want consider places like the Midwest and South,but not Florida.
Source: BEA