CostLiving

By Income Holdings LLC

Overview

CostLiving gives monthly cost-of-living estimates for all 50 US states, Puerto Rico and 244 US cities. Ask what it costs to live somewhere and you get a monthly total with the main parts broken out: housing, food and transport. Figures come in four tiers (budget, moderate, comfortable and luxury) and assume a single person renting a one-bedroom home unless you ask about a couple. You can: - look up the monthly cost of living for a US state or city - compare two to five places side by side, with the percentage difference - rank states, cities, or cities within one state from cheapest to most expensive, optionally under a monthly budget - see the take-home (after-tax) income needed to cover living costs, for a single person or a couple Every answer links to the CostLiving page the figure comes from, where the sources and method are explained. Figures are estimates for planning, not quotes. The app covers the US only; for places it does not cover it says so rather than guessing.

Tools

costliving_compare

ChatGPT

Use when the user wants two to five US states or US cities side by side, for example "Texas vs California" or "Austin or Denver for a single person". Returns each place's monthly total and housing, and the difference in dollars and percent against the cheapest place in the set. Do not use for non-US places, or to rank many places (use costliving_rank).

costliving_lookup

ChatGPT

Use when the user asks what it costs to live in one US state or US city, or what rent, food or transport costs there. Returns monthly USD totals for a single person at four lifestyle tiers, plus a moderate-tier breakdown (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare, entertainment, clothing, misc) and the CostLiving page link. Do not use for countries or cities outside the US, house prices, salaries by job, or property listings.

costliving_rank

ChatGPT

Use for "cheapest states", "most expensive states", "cheapest cities in Ohio", or "where can I live on $3,000 a month in the US". Returns up to 10 ranked places with monthly total, housing and page link, plus total_matching (how many places meet the filter). Do not use for non-US places or for a single named place (use costliving_lookup).

costliving_salary_needed

ChatGPT

Use when the user asks what income a single person or couple needs to live in a US state or US city. Returns the monthly and annual NET (take-home) income needed, not gross salary, and says how a couple is calculated. Do not convert the result to a gross salary. Do not use for non-US places or for what a specific job pays.