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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Let's be honest: these cities aren't cheap. And broadly, but within that premium market, there are cities where your dollar stretches meaningfully further. Sacramento proves it with a cost index of 117, and we've ranked all 2 contenders to help you find the best deal in an expensive landscape.
Let's be honest: these cities aren't cheap. And broadly, but within that premium market, there are cities where your dollar stretches meaningfully further. Sacramento proves it with a cost index of 117, and we've ranked all 2 contenders to help you find the best deal in an expensive landscape.
Dive into Sacramento's numbers: cost index 117 — for better or worse — (6 points above national average), rent $2,006/month, income $83,753, and a home price of $472,863. The city's cost profile isn't flat — Healthcare is the cheapest category at 103, while Housing runs 117. As a major city with 526,384 residents, amenities and job markets are robust.
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. Sacramento (index 117, rent $2,006); Miami (index 173, rent $2,964). Each city profile below links to the full detail page with 12-month trends, salary breakdowns, and cost category comparisons (not adjusted for inflation, but still telling).
And there's one more thing: Nationally, the 288 cities in our database average a cost index of 111 — not a number you see very often, by the way — , rent of $1,895/month, and household income of $80,367. And with some exceptions, the cities in this ranking challenge those benchmarks. That level of affordability is getting rarer every year.
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 most of the time, 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: Sacramento, CA — cost index 117, rent $2,006/mo, income $83,753
0 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 | MiamiFL | 173 | $2,964 | Details |
526,384 residents · California
Why Sacramento ranks #1: the numbers tell a clear story. At 117 on the cost index, residents spend roughly 6% more than the typical American. Rent sits at $2,006/month — we had to double-check this one — while the median household pulls in $83,753/year. The Healthcare category is particularly strong at 103, though Housing (117) lags behind. Home prices average $472,863 — $5,493 above the national median.
455,924 residents · Florida
What does daily life actually cost in Miami? Start with the 60% rent-to-income ratio — stretched, especially for single earners. On the category level, Healthcare (index 115) is where the real savings show up, while Housing (index 173) is the line item most likely to surprise newcomers. That's a reasonable number. Income at $59,390 — we had to double-check this one — and homes at $573,963 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.
Sacramento (ranked #1) has a cost index of 117 and rent of $2,006/mo, while Miami (ranked #2) has a cost index of 173 and rent of $2,964/mo — a 56-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.