Cost of Living Index
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COST OF LIVING INDEX
Among the 250 urban areas that participated in the first quarter of the 2026 Cost of Living Index, the after-tax cost for a professional/managerial standard of living ranged from more than twice the national average in New York (Manhattan), NY to more than 20 percent below the national average in Tupelo, MS. The Cost of Living Index is published quarterly by C2ER – The Council for Community and Economic Research.
The Ten Most and Least Expensive Urban Areas in the Cost of Living Index (COLI)
Review of Quarter One in 2026 National Average for 250 Urban Areas = 100
The Cost of Living Index measures regional differences in the cost of consumer goods and services, excluding taxes and non-consumer expenditures, for professional and managerial households in the top income quintile. Covering 61 different items, prices are collected quarterly by chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, and university applied economic centers in each participating urban area. Small differences should not be interpreted as showing a measurable difference.
The composite index is based on six component categories – housing, utilities, grocery items, transportation, health care, and miscellaneous goods and services.
What Do Groceries Cost?
The C2ER grocery index is drawing data from over 320 million grocery prices derived from 1.5 trillion historical data points collected across the country to generate the most accurate data possible. Datasembly’s weekly collection covers 200 national and regional retailers and quick service restaurants representing over 150,000 brick and mortar locations across 30,000 zip codes. With food prices still being a big part of the national conversation, C2ER decided to feature those communities once again with the most and least expensive food costs as measured by the grocery item index number. The twenty-six items priced come from a variety of surrogate categories to represent the grocery item component of the index.
The Five Most and Least Expensive Places for Grocery Items by Index Number
in the Cost of Living Index (COLI)
Review of Quarter One in 2026 Average for 250 Urban Areas = 100
The Most Expensive and Least Expensive Cities for Gasoline
With the cost of gasoline seemingly increasing every day, up to a national average of $4.56 per gallon in May of 2026 according to Newsweek, it can be prudent to reflect on the trajectory of this universal cost. The Cost of Living Index captures price data for the most prominent metros in the US, showing that $2.79 is the average cost per gallon of gasoline in January of 2026. Digging a little deeper, we can see the top four most expensive urban areas for a gallon of gasoline are in California with prices that exceed $4.30. Conversely, the least expensive urban areas for this item are mainly located in the Midwest, being $2.20 or cheaper. Since urban areas in the Midwest tend to be closer to major oil refineries and pipelines, it’s not surprising that these places have the cheapest gas. Using COLI data from the most recent Quarterly Index alongside the data reported by Newsweek, we can see that the national average cost for a gallon of gasoline is now roughly as expensive as the most expensive gallon of gasoline back in January.
The Five Most and Least Expensive Places for A Gallon of Gasoline
Review of Quarter One in 2026 Average for 250 Urban Areas = $2.79
The quarterly Cost of Living Index is available by subscription for $200 per year for the print version and $315 per year for the electronic version. Be sure and ask about our Expanded Excel version which covers more household and income types. Send check, payable to C2ER, P.O. Box 12546, Arlington VA 22209, or subscribe on the Internet at www.coli.org.
If you need additional information on the Cost of Living Index or other COLI-related products such as the COLI Web Calculator and the COLI Historical Index, please contact us at info@coli.org or by phone at 703-522-4982.
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