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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
The numbers are clear: 2 of 2 cities beat the national cost-of-living benchmark of 111. Phoenix stands out at 91 on the index, with rent of $1,556/month and household income of $77,041. Assembled from 2026 Census, Zillow, and BLS data. An outlier in the best sense.
The numbers are clear: 2 of 2 cities beat the national cost-of-living benchmark of 111. Phoenix stands out at 91 on the index, with rent of $1,556/month and household income of $77,041. Assembled from 2026 Census, Zillow, and BLS data. An outlier in the best sense.
Here's Phoenix by the numbers — and there's a lot to like (and a little to watch). Cost index: 91. Rent: $1,556/month — we had to double-check this one — . Income: $77,041/year. Home price: $407,665. Population: 1,650,070. The strongest category is Housing at 91; the most expensive is Healthcare at 98. Translate that rent to annual numbers, and residents are saving renters $4,068 per year vs. the national median. On a teacher's salary, this difference is the line between paycheck-to-paycheck and comfortable. Honestly, this is the kind of city that makes you wonder why more people aren't paying attention. The numbers are right there — rent that doesn't eat your paycheck, costs that actually leave room for a life. And yet it barely shows up in the national conversation about affordable places to live. Maybe that's a good thing. Maybe that's what keeps it affordable.
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. That's about what we'd expect given the state context. 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. A real contender.
#1 Ranked: Phoenix, AZ — cost index 91, rent $1,556/mo, income $77,041
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
1,650,070 residents · Arizona
Look, Dive into Phoenix's numbers: cost index 91 (20 points below national average), rent $1,556/month, income $77,041, and a home price of $407,665. The city's cost profile isn't flat — Housing is the cheapest category at 91, while Healthcare runs 98. As a major city with 1,650,070 residents, amenities and job markets are robust (not adjusted for inflation, but still telling). Below the radar, but not for long.
482,295 residents · North Carolina
What does daily life actually cost in Raleigh? Start with the 23% rent-to-income ratio — that's the kind of margin that lets people build savings. On the category level, Housing (index 92) is where the real savings show up, while Healthcare (index 98) is the line item most likely to surprise newcomers. Income at $82,424 — we had to double-check this one — and homes at $428,831 round out a profile that ranks #2 for clear reasons (that's pre-tax, of course).
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.
Phoenix (ranked #1) has a cost index of 91 and rent of $1,556/mo, while Raleigh (ranked #2) has a cost index of 92 and rent of $1,567/mo — a 1-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 Phoenix is $1,556/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $339 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Phoenix is $407,665, which is 5.3× the local median income. Most median-income households would stretch to buy at this ratio. 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.