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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Look, the numbers are clear: 2 of 2 cities beat the national cost-of-living benchmark of 111. And depending on your situation, fort Worth stands out at 91 on the index, with rent of $1,554/month and household income of $76,602. It's fine. Not great, not bad. Assembled from 2026 Census, Zillow, and B…
Look, the numbers are clear: 2 of 2 cities beat the national cost-of-living benchmark of 111. And depending on your situation, fort Worth stands out at 91 on the index, with rent of $1,554/month and household income of $76,602. It's fine. Not great, not bad. Assembled from 2026 Census, Zillow, and BLS data.
Fort Worth comes in at #1. And roughly speaking, rent is $1,554 a month. Household income is $76,602. The cost of living index is 91. It's fine. Not great, not bad.
If you're ready to act on this, three things to do next: 1) Click into the city pages for the top 3 and check rent trends — direction matters more than the snapshot. 2) Run your income through the salary calculator for a personalized cost comparison. 3) Compare your top two picks head-to-head on our comparison page. The data is here; the decision is yours.
#1 Ranked: Fort Worth, TX — cost index 91, rent $1,554/mo, income $76,602
2 of 2 cities come in below the national cost-of-living average of 111
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
| Rank | City | Cost Index | Median Rent | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fort WorthTX | 91 | $1,554 | Details |
| 2 | IndianapolisIN | 79 | $1,356 | Details |
978,468 residents · Texas
Look, a closer look at Fort Worth: the cost index of 91 breaks down to a Housing index of 91 (strongest category) and a Healthcare index of 98 (weakest). Median rent is $1,554/month — 18% below the national median — while household income sits at $76,602, meaning locals spend about 24% of income on rent. That's a healthy margin by any standard (and that gap widens if you factor in state taxes).
879,293 residents · Indiana
What does daily life actually cost in Indianapolis? Start with the 26% rent-to-income ratio — tight but manageable for most households. On the category level, Housing (index 79) is where the real savings show up, while Healthcare (index 96) is the line item most likely to surprise newcomers. Income at $62,995 and homes at $226,528 round out a profile that ranks #2 for clear reasons.
Our cost of living index uses real Zillow rent data as the foundation, indexed to 100 (national median). Sub-categories (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare) are derived from the overall index with regional adjustments. Data is updated monthly.
Fort Worth (ranked #1) has a cost index of 91 and rent of $1,554/mo, while Indianapolis (ranked #2) has a cost index of 79 and rent of $1,356/mo — a 12-point difference in cost of living.
City data is refreshed monthly from Census Bureau population estimates, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary data, and Tax Foundation tax rates. Last updated: 2026.
The median 1-bedroom rent in Fort Worth is $1,554/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $341 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Fort Worth is $295,822, which is 3.9× the local median income. It's on the edge of affordability for median-income households. The national median home price is $467,370.
This ranking was generated using data current as of early 2026. Population and income data comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (5-year estimates). Rent and home price data is from Zillow's monthly releases. Tax rates are from the Tax Foundation's 2025 edition. Rankings are refreshed monthly.