Loading
Assembling your view…
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Nobody expects rock-bottom prices here — but that doesn't mean all cities are equally expensive. Sacramento (index 117, rent $2,006/mo) carves out real savings within a high-cost market. We analyzed 2 cities to find where your money goes furthest in 2026.
Nobody expects rock-bottom prices here — but that doesn't mean all cities are equally expensive. Sacramento (index 117, rent $2,006/mo) carves out real savings within a high-cost market. We analyzed 2 cities to find where your money goes furthest in 2026.
Look, What does daily life actually cost in Sacramento? Start with the 29% rent-to-income ratio — tight but manageable for most households. On the category level, Healthcare (index 103) is where the real savings show up, while Housing (index 117) is the line item most likely to surprise newcomers. Income at $83,753 — for better or worse — and homes at $472,863 round out a profile that ranks #1 for clear reasons.
Now zoom in on the cost categories. Nationally, the 288 cities in our database average a cost index of 111, rent of $1,895/month, and household income of $80,367. The cities in this ranking challenge those benchmarks. The data here speaks for itself.
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. And as far as the data shows, 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 (that's pre-tax, of course).
#1 Ranked: Sacramento, CA — cost index 117, rent $2,006/mo, income $83,753
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 | SacramentoCA | 117 | $2,006 | Details |
| 2 | MesaAZ | 91 | $1,554 | Details |
526,384 residents · California
So, Sacramento. Cost index of 117, rent at $2,006/month. It's higher than the national average. Median income is $83,753, which is above average. Fairly typical for a city this size.
511,648 residents · Arizona
Here's Mesa by the numbers — and there's a lot to like (and a little to watch). Cost index: 91. Rent: $1,554/month. Income: $78,779/year. Home price: $432,764. Population: 511,648. 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 $4,092 per year vs. the national median. That's a meaningful edge in practice.
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.
Sacramento (ranked #1) has a cost index of 117 and rent of $2,006/mo, while Mesa (ranked #2) has a cost index of 91 and rent of $1,554/mo — a 26-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 Sacramento is $2,006/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $111 above the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Sacramento is $472,863, which is 5.6× 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.