Pulsafi Research · Dataset
City Cost of Living Index
Composite cost-of-living index for 1,478 US cities, scaled to a national baseline of 100. Includes 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom rent, median income, and population.
Coverage
1,478 US cities
Best for
Relocation analysis, salary equivalence math, lifestyle planning
Methodology
Composite index combines housing (40%), groceries (15%), transportation (10%), utilities (8%), healthcare (5%), and other goods/services (22%) using ACS data and major-city consumer surveys. Validated against the C2ER COLI methodology where overlap exists.
Fields included
CityStateCOL index (US baseline = 100)1-bedroom rent (avg)2-bedroom rent (avg)Median household incomePopulation
Access the data
Compare cities →Citation
Pulsafi City Cost of Living Index, derived from US Census ACS and C2ER COLI methodology. https://www.pulsafi.com/research/city-cost-of-living-index
Primary source