Annual report · Cost of Living
What a household budget actually looks like across 51 US360 state hubs.
Published Feb 11, 2026 · Last updated Jul 9, 2026 · 14 min read
Author
Priya Raman
Personal Finance Editor
Reviewer
Elena Marsh
Editorial Director
Published
Feb 11, 2026
Version 2.0
Last reviewed
Jul 9, 2026
14 min read
Editor's review: Every figure in this report comes from the published US360 state dataset. Where a measure is not yet sourced per state, the report says so instead of estimating.
Key findings
The report
The report uses the US360 cost index, published median home value and published state income tax treatment for all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Those three fields are the only ones currently sourced consistently for every hub, so they are the only ones used to rank.
The cost index is an editorial comparison scale, not an official statistic: 100 represents the national baseline used across US360, and each state's value is only meaningful relative to other states on the same scale.
Housing dominates the affordability picture. States with a low index and a low median home value give households the widest gap between income and outgoings; states with a low index but a high median home value are affordable day to day and expensive to settle in permanently.
US360 does not publish a household budget figure per state, because rent, childcare and utility costs are not yet sourced for every hub. Those measures appear as planned factors, not as numbers.
Data visuals
Every visual states whether it is derived from published US360 data or a labelled placeholder, and every chart can be read as a data table.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Mississippi | 99.7 / 100 |
| Iowa | 95.8 / 100 |
| Kentucky | 95.1 / 100 |
| Indiana | 93.9 / 100 |
| Michigan | 92.7 / 100 |
| Pennsylvania | 89.4 / 100 |
| Illinois | 89 / 100 |
| Georgia | 86.9 / 100 |
Derived from the published US360 state dataset. Higher score = more affordable on the published measures.
Sample layout only. US360 has not connected a dataset for this visual, so no values are shown.
Sample layout. US360 has not yet connected a time series for this measure — no values are shown.
Sources
US360 never presents a third-party statistic as its own. Each source below is labelled by origin.
US360 state dataset
Cost index, median home value and income tax treatment for all 51 hubs.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Consumer price context. Referenced for interpretation; no BLS figure is reproduced here.
Open sourceBureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parity concepts used to frame the index.
Open sourceDownload center
Each file carries its version number and publication date. Files are prepared by the research desk and released with the report edition.
Corrections & versions
No corrections have been issued for this report. Corrections are always published here with the date and what changed.
Related rankings
Where does an average household budget stretch furthest?
Where do cost, housing and opportunity balance best?
Trust & transparency
A researcher drafts from the shared state dataset, a second researcher recomputes every composite, and an editor reviews the wording before publication.
A measure only enters a ranking when the same field exists for all 51 hubs. Anything partial stays a labelled placeholder.
Annual reports are re-published yearly with a mid-year review. Rankings recompute with the dataset and are reviewed at least twice a year.
State-level figures cannot describe a specific city or neighbourhood, and several important measures are still unsourced. Each report lists its own limits.
Corrections are published on the report page with the date and the change, and the version history records what moved.
Anyone can flag a figure through the contact page. Flagged figures are re-checked before the next review date.
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