U.S. Census Bureau Census
Property taxes actually paid, home values, rents, household income and tenure for every state and 2,826 counties, from the American Community Survey.
Verify at www.census.govFederal data, state by state
What things cost.
What people earn.
StateRates publishes what it costs to live in each U.S. state, from federal data. The typical homeowner pays 0.98% of their home's value in property tax on a $303,400 house, the median worker earns $49,500 a year, and electricity averages 18.44¢ per kilowatt-hour. Prices themselves run from 86.9 in Arkansas to 110.7 in California.
Nine datasets, six federal agencies, no estimates of our own
Taxes Property tax rates 0.98% U.S. effective rate Every state and 2,826 counties, worked out from taxes actually paid rather than posted millage. New Jersey is highest. Prices Cost of living 110.7 California, where 100 is average Arkansas is the cheapest at 86.9. Includes 387 metro areas and where a salary goes furthest. Energy Electricity rates 18.44¢ per kWh, U.S. average Every state and 1,369 utilities, with average bills, consumption and reliability. Updated monthly. Energy Natural gas prices $14.50 per MCF, 2024 About $1.40 per therm. Includes whether gas or a heat pump is cheaper to run in each state. Work Wages by occupation $49,500 median, 2024 754 occupations priced in every state, with hourly rates, percentile ranges and where each job is concentrated. Energy Average electric bills $155 per month, U.S. average At 871 kWh. The cheapest rates do not produce the cheapest bills, and this shows where they diverge. Housing House prices +2.7% median state, year to 2026 Q2 51 states and 100 metro areas, with one, five and ten year changes from the FHFA index. Housing Mortgage rates 6.71% 30-year fixed, 2026-09-03 Weekly Freddie Mac survey back to 1971, with a payment table showing what each rate actually costs.
Why a state page
A salary means nothing without the bills next to it
Pay and prices are usually published separately, by different agencies, in different units, on different schedules. That makes the obvious question hard to answer: is this a good place to live on this income?
Each state page puts them together. What the median home is worth and what it carries in property tax, how far local prices sit from the national average, what the median worker earns and what that pay is actually worth once prices are taken out, what a household pays for electricity and gas, and which occupations the state is unusually full of. The same figures, from the same sources, for all fifty states and the District of Columbia.
Underneath the state pages, the detail goes further than a state: 2,826 counties for property tax, 387 metro areas for prices, and 1,369 utilities serving 126 million households for electricity. Property tax and rents vary more inside a state than between states, so a state average is often the wrong unit to be reading.
Electricity, U.S. average 18.44¢ +6.2% year over year
Cheapest and dearest 12.35¢ to 52.00¢
Idaho to Hawaii
Heating 16 vs 33 states where a heat pump beats gas, and where it does not
Where power costs what
Residential electricity rates, May 2026
AK 28.23 Alaska: 28.23 cents per kilowatt-hour
ME 28.63 Maine: 28.63 cents per kilowatt-hour
VT 24.89 Vermont: 24.89 cents per kilowatt-hour
NH 27.33 New Hampshire: 27.33 cents per kilowatt-hour
WA 14.95 Washington: 14.95 cents per kilowatt-hour
ID 12.35 Idaho: 12.35 cents per kilowatt-hour
MT 14.67 Montana: 14.67 cents per kilowatt-hour
ND 13.61 North Dakota: 13.61 cents per kilowatt-hour
MN 16.95 Minnesota: 16.95 cents per kilowatt-hour
IL 23.85 Illinois: 23.85 cents per kilowatt-hour
WI 19.74 Wisconsin: 19.74 cents per kilowatt-hour
MI 22.01 Michigan: 22.01 cents per kilowatt-hour
NY 29.93 New York: 29.93 cents per kilowatt-hour
RI 29.46 Rhode Island: 29.46 cents per kilowatt-hour
MA 28.82 Massachusetts: 28.82 cents per kilowatt-hour
OR 16.27 Oregon: 16.27 cents per kilowatt-hour
NV 13.60 Nevada: 13.60 cents per kilowatt-hour
WY 14.80 Wyoming: 14.80 cents per kilowatt-hour
SD 15.73 South Dakota: 15.73 cents per kilowatt-hour
IA 14.14 Iowa: 14.14 cents per kilowatt-hour
IN 18.15 Indiana: 18.15 cents per kilowatt-hour
OH 19.52 Ohio: 19.52 cents per kilowatt-hour
PA 21.55 Pennsylvania: 21.55 cents per kilowatt-hour
NJ 23.27 New Jersey: 23.27 cents per kilowatt-hour
CT 27.37 Connecticut: 27.37 cents per kilowatt-hour
CA 33.25 California: 33.25 cents per kilowatt-hour
UT 12.96 Utah: 12.96 cents per kilowatt-hour
CO 16.16 Colorado: 16.16 cents per kilowatt-hour
NE 13.59 Nebraska: 13.59 cents per kilowatt-hour
MO 13.68 Missouri: 13.68 cents per kilowatt-hour
KY 14.98 Kentucky: 14.98 cents per kilowatt-hour
WV 16.80 West Virginia: 16.80 cents per kilowatt-hour
VA 17.61 Virginia: 17.61 cents per kilowatt-hour
MD 21.77 Maryland: 21.77 cents per kilowatt-hour
DE 19.38 Delaware: 19.38 cents per kilowatt-hour
AZ 15.23 Arizona: 15.23 cents per kilowatt-hour
NM 14.12 New Mexico: 14.12 cents per kilowatt-hour
KS 15.13 Kansas: 15.13 cents per kilowatt-hour
AR 14.36 Arkansas: 14.36 cents per kilowatt-hour
TN 14.47 Tennessee: 14.47 cents per kilowatt-hour
NC 15.09 North Carolina: 15.09 cents per kilowatt-hour
SC 16.18 South Carolina: 16.18 cents per kilowatt-hour
DC 25.40 District of Columbia: 25.40 cents per kilowatt-hour
OK 13.38 Oklahoma: 13.38 cents per kilowatt-hour
LA 14.15 Louisiana: 14.15 cents per kilowatt-hour
MS 16.16 Mississippi: 16.16 cents per kilowatt-hour
AL 16.77 Alabama: 16.77 cents per kilowatt-hour
GA 15.84 Georgia: 15.84 cents per kilowatt-hour
HI 52.00 Hawaii: 52.00 cents per kilowatt-hour
TX 16.44 Texas: 16.44 cents per kilowatt-hour
FL 15.17 Florida: 15.17 cents per kilowatt-hour
≤13.59¢ ≥29.93¢
U.S. average 18.44¢ / kWh
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A: Average Price of Electricity to Ultimate Customers by End-Use Sector, by State. Full table and rankings
Pick a state
Alabama 16.77¢ Alaska 28.23¢ Arizona 15.23¢ Arkansas 14.36¢ California 33.25¢ Colorado 16.16¢ Connecticut 27.37¢ Delaware 19.38¢ District of Columbia 25.40¢ Florida 15.17¢ Georgia 15.84¢ Hawaii 52.00¢ Idaho 12.35¢ Illinois 23.85¢ Indiana 18.15¢ Iowa 14.14¢ Kansas 15.13¢ Kentucky 14.98¢ Louisiana 14.15¢ Maine 28.63¢ Maryland 21.77¢ Massachusetts 28.82¢ Michigan 22.01¢ Minnesota 16.95¢ Mississippi 16.16¢ Missouri 13.68¢ Montana 14.67¢ Nebraska 13.59¢ Nevada 13.60¢ New Hampshire 27.33¢ New Jersey 23.27¢ New Mexico 14.12¢ New York 29.93¢ North Carolina 15.09¢ North Dakota 13.61¢ Ohio 19.52¢ Oklahoma 13.38¢ Oregon 16.27¢ Pennsylvania 21.55¢ Rhode Island 29.46¢ South Carolina 16.18¢ South Dakota 15.73¢ Tennessee 14.47¢ Texas 16.44¢ Utah 12.96¢ Vermont 24.89¢ Virginia 17.61¢ Washington 14.95¢ West Virginia 16.80¢ Wisconsin 19.74¢ Wyoming 14.80¢
Four federal sources, named and dated
Nothing on this site is estimated, modelled or scraped from another publisher. Every number is taken from a government statistical agency, and each page states which series it came from and when it was retrieved. Rankings, year-over-year changes and comparisons against national averages are calculated here from those figures, and how that is done is set out in the methodology.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis BEA
Regional price parities, the official measure of what a dollar buys in one place against the national average, for every state and 387 metropolitan areas.
Verify at www.bea.gov U.S. Energy Information Administration EIA
Electricity prices, sales, revenue and customer counts by state and by utility, what each state burns to generate power, and residential natural gas prices.
Verify at www.eia.gov U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics BLS
Employment and wage distributions for 754 occupations in every state, including median and percentile pay and how concentrated each job is locally.
Verify at www.bls.gov Federal Housing Finance Agency FHFA
House price index for 51 states and 100 metropolitan areas, built from repeat sales of the same properties.
Verify at www.fhfa.gov Freddie Mac PMMS
National average mortgage rates for 30-year and 15-year fixed loans, surveyed from lenders since 1971.
Verify at www.freddiemac.comFrequently asked questions
What does this site cover?
What it costs to live in each state, taken from federal statistical agencies rather than from surveys or estimates of our own. Property taxes are covered for every state and 2,826 counties. Cost of living covers every state and 387 metro areas. Housing covers the house price index for 51 states and 100 metro areas plus mortgage rates. Wages cover 754 occupations in every state. Energy covers electricity rates for every state and 1,369 individual utilities, natural gas prices, average bills and what each state burns to generate power.
Where does the data come from?
Six sources, all named and dated on this page: the Census Bureau for property taxes, home values, rents and income, the Bureau of Economic Analysis for regional price levels, the Energy Information Administration for electricity and gas, the Bureau of Labor Statistics for wages, the Federal Housing Finance Agency for house prices, and Freddie Mac for mortgage rates. Every figure is cited on the page it appears on, and the compiled datasets are downloadable as JSON and CSV. Rankings, year-over-year changes and comparisons against national averages are calculated here and documented in the methodology.
How often is it updated?
Electricity prices monthly, mortgage rates weekly, house prices quarterly, and the Census, price parity, wage and utility surveys annually, each as its agency publishes. The current electricity period is May 2026, the current housing quarter is 2026 Q2, and the Census figures are the ACS 2023 five-year estimates.
Are these figures what I will actually pay or earn?
No. They are averages across an entire state or occupation. Your own bill depends on your utility, rate schedule and usage; your own pay depends on experience, employer and location within the state. Use them to compare places and to sanity-check what you are being quoted, not as a forecast of your own situation.