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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Portland: high income, low cost — a rare combo. Portland earns above the national median ($88,792 vs $80,367) while keeping costs below average (index 100 vs 111). That combination is exceptionally rare — only 40 of 288 cities share it. It's fine. Not great, not bad.
Portland: high income, low cost — a rare combo. Portland earns above the national median ($88,792 vs $80,367) while keeping costs below average (index 100 vs 111). That combination is exceptionally rare — only 40 of 288 cities share it. It's fine. Not great, not bad.
Portland breaks the usual trade-off between income and cost of living. Most affordable cities pay less — but Portland delivers a median household income of $88,792 — we had to double-check this one — (10% above the national median) while keeping costs 11 points below national average. That's a rare combination shared by only 40 of the 288 cities we track.
Real talk: Dive into Portland's numbers: cost index 100 (11 points below national average), rent $1,710/month, income $88,792, and a home price of $524,251. The city's cost profile isn't flat — Healthcare is the cheapest category at 100, while Healthcare runs 100. As a major city with 630,498 residents, amenities and job markets are robust.
But the numbers also reveal: The national baseline: 111 cost index, $1,895/month rent, $80,367 household income. That's the yardstick. The cities ranked here blow past it — starting with Portland at just 100 on the index.
What to do with this data: use the ranking as a shortlist, then dig into the city profiles for trend lines and category breakdowns. 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: Portland, OR — cost index 100, rent $1,710/mo, income $88,792
Portland: high income, low cost — a rare combo
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 | PortlandOR | 100 | $1,710 | Details |
| 2 | Colorado SpringsCO | 97 | $1,667 | Details |
630,498 residents · Oregon
Dive into Portland's numbers: cost index 100 (11 points below national average), rent $1,710/month, income $88,792, and a home price of $524,251. Not the most exciting stat, but it matters. The city's cost profile isn't flat — Healthcare is the cheapest category at 100, while Healthcare runs 100. As a major city with 630,498 residents, amenities and job markets are robust.
488,664 residents · Colorado
Here's Colorado Springs by the numbers — and there's a lot to like (and a little to watch). Cost index: 97. Rent: $1,667/month. Income: $83,198/year. Home price: $446,132. Population: 488,664. The strongest category is Housing at 97; the most expensive is Healthcare at 99. You get the picture. Translate that rent to annual numbers, and residents are saving renters $2,736 per year vs. the national median. That's the kind of stat homebuyers should print out for their mortgage meetings.
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.
Portland (ranked #1) has a cost index of 100 and rent of $1,710/mo, while Colorado Springs (ranked #2) has a cost index of 97 and rent of $1,667/mo — a 3-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 Portland is $1,710/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $185 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Portland is $524,251, which is 5.9× 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.