Newly minted Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh sought early on to put to rest concerns that he might be less hawkish than his predecessors on inflation.
"It's the most regressive tax that anyone in Washington could come up with," he said at his Senate confirmation hearing on April 22. "If you were trying to do the most harm to the least well off among us, inflation would be the way to do it."
And with inflation now running at the highest rate in three years, some states are doing more harm than others.
The cost of living is an important consideration when companies decide where to do business. A high cost of living can make it hard to attract workers. It also means they'll have to pay them more.
That is why CNBC considers Cost of Living as one of ten categories of competitiveness in our America's Top States for Business study, now in its 20th year.
We rate the states based on an index of prices for a broad range of goods and services calculated by the Council for Community and Economic Research. We also consider housing affordability for both homeowners and renters. And, with the insurance crisis persisting nationwide, we measure the cost to insure a median-priced home based on the most recent available data. Under this year's methodology, Cost of Living is worth 2% of each state's total score.
Some states are relative bargains. The following states are not.
These are America's most expensive states, along with average prices of some basic items in key metro areas.
Landmark classic residential street in Chicago, Illinois
Pgiam | Istock | Getty Images
If the most famous Illinois resident were alive today, the cost of housing would utterly shock his log cabin sensibilities. Nearly a third of residents in the Land of Lincoln are paying more than 30% of their monthly income for housing, according to Census Bureau and ATTOM Data Solutions figures. And rent is more than 40% higher than it is in Ohio. The 2027 fiscal year budget signed by Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker in June allocates $100 million toward affordable housing programs and another $50 million toward down payment assistance.
2026 Cost of Living score: 17 out of 50 points (Top States grade: D+)
Consumer Price Index (May, Midwest Region, year-over-year): +5%
Average rent (3-bedroom home): $2,425
Average home price (Chicago): $642,053
Monthly energy bill: $188.44
Dozen eggs (Q1 2026): $4.04
Loaf of bread (Q1 2026): $4.04
The metro area of New York City, N.Y., Newark, Jersey City, N.J ranked as the most expensive for renters.
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Start spreadin' the news — though it's not news to anyone who lives in New York. The Empire State is an incredibly expensive place to live. The average home price in Manhattan is easily the highest in the nation at $2.9 million in the first quarter of this year, according to C2ER, which notes that the average apartment rent in the city is closing in on $6,000 a month. Even factoring in the slightly more affordable remainder of the state, rents are the highest in the nation as a percentage of median income, according to ATTOM Data Solutions. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani kept a campaign promise in June, pushing through a two-year rent freeze for rent-stabilized apartments in the city. But the freeze covers only about 28% of the total housing stock in the city, and critics allege that freezing rents will only make the housing shortage worse.
2026 Cost of Living score: 17 out of 50 points (Top States grade: D+)
Consumer Price Index (May, New York-Newark-Jersey City Region): +5.1%
Average rent (3-bedroom home, statewide): $4,198
Average home price (Manhattan): $2,904,444
Monthly energy bill: $275.57
Dozen eggs (Q1 2026): $4.87
Loaf of bread (Q1 2026): $4.33
Washington is still the corporate home of Starbucks, even though the company announced earlier this year that it was moving a major portion of its operations to Tennessee from Washington, and longtime CEO Howard Schultz retired to Florida. While neither Starbucks nor Schultz said as much, speculation has swirled around the Evergreen State's rising costs — plus a new 9.9% state tax on incomes above $1 million — as reasons for the exodus.
But it is regular Washingtonians who really suffer under the state's high cost of living. Seattle coffee aficionados might turn up their noses at a can of Folgers, but it's emblematic of the state's high prices for basic goods. A 12-ounce can is more than 15% more expensive in Seattle than it is in Providence, Rhode Island.
2026 Cost of Living score: 17 out of 50 points (Top States grade: D+)
Consumer Price Index (May, West Region): +3.5%
Average rent (3-bedroom home): $2,632
Average home price (Seattle): $1,252,825
Monthly energy bill: $211.87
Dozen eggs (Q1 2026): $2.96
Loaf of bread (Q1 2026): $4.95
Hartford, Connecticut, downtown city skyline on the river.
Seanpavonephoto | Istock | Getty Images
We don't have data on the cost of nutmeg in the Nutmeg State, so let's look at sugar. C2ER says it is 20% more expensive in Hartford, Connecticut, than it is in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The cost of basic goods in Connecticut is the ninth-highest in the nation, based on the organization's Cost of Living Index. Same story with rent as a percentage of median income. Healthcare is expensive too, with the cost of a doctor's visit more than 10% higher than in Riverside, California.
2026 Cost of Living score: 16 out of 50 points (Top States grade: D)
Consumer Price Index (May, Northeast Region): +5%
Average rent (3-bedroom home): $3,226
Average home price (Stamford): $913,790
Monthly energy bill: $340.42
Dozen eggs (Q1 2026): $5.30
Loaf of bread (Q1 2026): $4.38
Aerial view of downtown Portland, Oregon
Jbentley09 | Istock | Getty Images
Dam(n), prices are high in the Beaver State. Oregon has the 10th-highest percentage of residents paying more than one-third of their monthly income for housing, at 32.7%. Basic goods are expensive, too. A loaf of bread in Portland is roughly one-third higher than in Minot, North Dakota. A report released in March by the Oregon-based Common Sense Institute ranked the state 47th for affordability. The report said that, after paying for taxes and necessary expenses, a typical four-person household has just 16.77% of its income left to pay for other things. That compares to 37.1% in Iowa.
2026 Cost of Living score: 15 out of 50 points (Top States grade: D)
Consumer Price Index (May, West Region): +3.5%
Average rent (3-bedroom home): $2,456
Average home price (Portland): $683,212
Monthly energy bill: $216.52
Dozen eggs (Q1 2026): $2.96
Loaf of bread (Q1 2026): $4.58
Aerial view of Newport, Rhode Island.
Halbergman | Istock | Getty Images
You could find yourself drowning in debt in the Ocean State, with the fifth-highest monthly housing costs in the nation, based on our analysis. Rents in Rhode Island are particularly oppressive, with the average for a three-bedroom home costing nearly 30% of median income. That is the fourth-highest in the country. A pizza in Providence is nearly 30% more expensive than in Wayne County, Pennsylvania. Your monthly energy bill is roughly twice what it would be in Albuquerque.
2026 Cost of Living score: 15 out of 50 points (Top States grade: D)
Consumer Price Index (May, Northeast Region): +5%
Average rent (3-bedroom home): $3,447
Average home price (Providence): $471,895
Monthly energy bill: $327.71
Dozen eggs (Q1 2026): $4.83
Loaf of bread (Q1 2026): $3.95
Aerial view Honolulu coastline in Hawaii from a helicopter
Svetlanasf | Istock | Getty Images
The traditional greeting in the Aloha State means both hello and goodbye. Living in Hawaii means digging deep into your wallet for just about everything. A pound of bananas will set you back twice what it would in Valdosta, Georgia. A gallon of gas costs 50% more than in Champaign, Illinois. The average rent is the second-highest in the country (after New York) as a percentage of median income. But Hawaii has largely dodged the insurance crisis that has engulfed the mainland, with premiums near the national average and a 2% decrease projected this year by Insurify. Mahalo for that.
2026 Cost of Living score: 14 out of 50 points (Top States grade: D)
Consumer Price Index (May, West Region): +3.5%
Average rent (3-bedroom home): $3,746
Average home price (Honolulu): $1,661,193
Monthly energy bill: $555.14
Dozen eggs (Q1 2026): $7.49
Loaf of bread (Q1 2026): $6.97
Distant view of Sunny Isle Beach from Aventura, Miami, Florida.
Alex Potemkin | E+ | Getty Images
The housing and insurance crises are clouding what was once a favorable cost picture in Florida. Sure, there's no state income tax in the Sunshine State, and property taxes are right around the national average. But Floridians pay the highest homeowners' premiums in the country, according to Insurify, which projects another 2% increase this year. Rents are among the highest in the country, and monthly housing costs as a percentage of median income are second only to a state that will appear later in this list. No great savings on your grocery bill either, including on one of Florida's most famous exports. Orange juice at the grocery store is 6% more expensive in Fort Lauderdale than it is in Greensboro, North Carolina.
2026 Cost of Living score: 13 out of 50 points (Top States grade: D–)
Consumer Price Index (May, Southeast Region): +3.9%
Average rent (3-bedroom home): $2,587
Average home price (Fort Lauderdale): $935,241
Monthly energy bill: $230.06
Dozen eggs (Q1 2026): $3.92
Loaf of bread (Q1 2026): $4.84
Burned neighborhood from Marshall wildfire, Louisville, Colorado 2021.
Kent Raney | Istock | Getty Images
The Centennial State is feeling the worst of the nation's insurance crisis. At nearly $4,000 per year on average, homeowners' premiums in Colorado are the sixth-highest in the nation, according to Insurify, which projects another 4% increase this year. Premiums are twice what residents pay in Arizona. Coloradans face a double-whammy of climate risks: wildfires and hailstorms. Average premiums have doubled since 2020, and insurers that aren't raising rates are leaving the state. In April, Gov. Jared Polis unveiled what he calls his Roadmap to Reduce Homeowners Insurance. The plan focuses on hardening homes and mitigating risk, with a goal of reducing the average homeowner's insurance cost by $800.
2026 Cost of Living score: 12 out of 50 points (Top States grade: D–)
Consumer Price Index (May, Mountain-Plains Region): +4.2%
Average rent (3-bedroom home): $2,593
Average home price (Colorado Springs): $523,031
Monthly energy bill: $148.72
Dozen eggs (Q1 2026): $2.96
Loaf of bread (Q1 2026): $4.56
Los Angeles, California ranked as the city with the highest barrier to homeownership in the U.S., according to RealtyHop.
Alexander Spatari | Moment | Getty Images
The luster of the Golden State fades considerably when you factor in the cost to live in California. Monthly housing costs are the highest in the nation, with 40% of Californians spending more than 30% of their incomes on housing. California's insurance crisis has spread beyond wildfire-prone areas of the state, according to research from Stanford. Premiums are up 84% since 2020, and Insurify projects another 16% rise this year — the highest in the nation.
Perhaps more troubling, the Stanford study notes, is the fact that so many homeowners are being forced to enroll in the state's FAIR Plan, which is supposed to be the insurer of last resort. It now covers roughly 5% of California single-family homes, up from 1.5% in 2020. The report says that 6% of new mortgage originations are backed by FAIR Plan insurance, which the researchers said signals deeper trouble ahead.
Then there are basic goods. California is America's biggest agricultural state, producing roughly half of the nation's produce. But groceries are not a bargain here. In San Jose, once the heart of the Valley of the Heart's Delight, a head of lettuce will cost you 16% more than it will in Burlington, Iowa.
2026 Cost of Living score: 4 out of 50 points (Top States grade: F)
Consumer Price Index (May, West Region): +3.5%
Average rent (3-bedroom home): $3,490
Average home price (San Jose): $1,982,986
Monthly energy bill: $372.98
Dozen eggs (Q1 2026): $2.96
Loaf of bread (Q1 2026): $5.20
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