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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Look, Let's be honest: these cities aren't cheap. And in practical terms, but within that premium market, there are cities where your dollar stretches meaningfully further. Philadelphia proves it with a cost index of 101, and we've ranked all 2 contenders to help you find the best deal in an expensi…
Look, Let's be honest: these cities aren't cheap. And in practical terms, but within that premium market, there are cities where your dollar stretches meaningfully further. Philadelphia proves it with a cost index of 101, and we've ranked all 2 contenders to help you find the best deal in an expensive landscape.
Look, the ranking uses a composite of 2026 data from Census Bureau population/income surveys, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary benchmarks, and Tax Foundation tax rates. Philadelphia (index 101, rent $1,734); Sacramento (index 117, rent $2,006). Moving on. Each city profile below links to the full detail page with 12-month trends, salary breakdowns, and cost category comparisons. One to watch.
So, Philadelphia. Fairly typical for a city this size. Cost index of 101, rent at $1,734/month. It's lower than the national average. Median income is $60,698, which is below the national median. Take it or leave it — the data is what it is.
It checks most boxes — but the housing costs are the asterisk. In Philadelphia, the housing index sits at 101 — not a dealbreaker, but worth knowing about (we double-checked this one). One to watch.
What to do with this data: use the ranking as a shortlist, then dig into the city profiles for trend lines and category breakdowns. And more often than not, the difference between #1 and #5 is often smaller than the difference between "good on paper" and "actually fits my life." Compare your top picks with our calculator to see real take-home numbers.
#1 Ranked: Philadelphia, PA — cost index 101, rent $1,734/mo, income $60,698
1 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 | PhiladelphiaPA | 101 | $1,734 | Details |
| 2 | SacramentoCA | 117 | $2,006 | Details |
1,550,542 residents · Pennsylvania
Frankly, Philadelphia comes in at #1. Rent is $1,734 a month. Household income is $60,698. The cost of living index is 101. That's a reasonable number.
526,384 residents · California
Here's Sacramento by the numbers — and there's a lot to like. And roughly speaking, cost index: 117. Rent: $2,006/month. Income: $83,753/year. Home price: $472,863. Population: 526,384. The strongest category is Healthcare at 103; the most expensive is Housing at 117. Translate that rent to annual numbers, and residents are costing renters $1,332 more per year vs. That alone makes it worth considering. the national median. Over thirty years of homeownership, the property tax savings alone are staggering.
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.
Philadelphia (ranked #1) has a cost index of 101 and rent of $1,734/mo, while Sacramento (ranked #2) has a cost index of 117 and rent of $2,006/mo — a 16-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 Philadelphia is $1,734/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $161 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Philadelphia is $229,411, which is 3.8× 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.