National ranking · 2024 BEA RPP
The most expensive U.S. metros
The 100 costliest metro areas in America, ranked by overall Regional Price Parity. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont tops the list at 115.6 - 16% above the national average.
- 100
- Metros ranked
- 115.6
- #1 - San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont
- 98.7
- Bar to make the top 100
The verdict
Housing, not goods or services, drives this list: 60% of the top 20 metros are rent-driven, meaning their rent index outpaces both goods and services.
- 60%
- of top 20 are rent-driven
- +1.5
- RPP pts, #1 over #2
- 98.7
- #100 cutoff to make the list
According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis's 2024 Regional Price Parities, San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont has the highest overall price index among 387 tracked metros. This top-100 list ends at RPP 98.7. Housing drives the premium: 60% of the top 20 are rent-driven. The index compares goods, services, and rents with the national average of 100; it is not a household budget or live quote.
- San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont ranks #1 of 387 tracked metros by highest overall RPP
- RPP 98.7 is the cutoff for this 100-metro most-expensive list
- 60% of the top 20 metros are rent-driven (rents outpace goods and services)
According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the costliest metros price far above the national benchmark of 100. This ranking draws on the agency's 2024 Regional Price Parities release, issued on February 19, 2026 and covering all 387 metro areas. A $100,000 national salary stretches the least in the metros at the top of this list, see our methodology for how the index is built.
The bar to make this list
Where the #100 cutoff sits among all U.S. metros
99 Top 26% higher than 74% of 387 US metros
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities · 2024
This ranking sorts the 100 most expensive U.S. metropolitan areas by overall RPP, where 100 is the national average and a value of 130 indicates 30% above mean prices. The expensive end of the spectrum is dominated by California coastal metros (San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Santa Cruz-Watsonville), Hawaii (Honolulu, Kahului-Wailuku), the Northeast Corridor (New York-Newark-Jersey City, Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk), and Washington D.C. The rent component is the dominant driver, these metros routinely show RPP-Rents of 150-180 while goods stay within 105-115 of the national average.
Use this ranking when negotiating a relocation salary or evaluating a remote-work cost-of-living adjustment. A common reviewer pitfall: assuming "expensive city" means uniformly high prices. The BEA breakdown lets you see that goods (a stable basket nationally) rarely move much, while services and especially rents do the heavy lifting. The companion salary equivalent calculator converts your current salary to the purchasing-power equivalent in any of these metros. Cross-reference with HUD Fair Market Rent tables for the federal 40th-percentile rent for your unit size, since the BEA RPP-rent is a blended index and may not reflect your specific apartment configuration.
What to do with this ranking
The bar to make this top 100 is an overall RPP of 98.7 - roughly the 74th percentile of all U.S. metros.
- Negotiating relocation or remote pay for one of these metros? Convert your salary to local purchasing power before you anchor on a number. Salary calculator
- Rents do the heavy lifting at the top (typically 150–180 vs goods near 110) - weight the housing line heaviest when you compare offers. Highest rents
- Looking the other way? See where a dollar stretches furthest across the country. Cheapest metros
RPP is BEA's annual price-level index (national average = 100) - a spatial comparison for the data year shown, not a live market quote.
About This Ranking
The Regional Price Parity (RPP) measures price level differences across U.S. metro areas. A value of 100 equals the national average. Cities above 100 are more expensive; below 100, less expensive. This ranking shows the 100 metros with the highest overall RPP, meaning the highest cost of living relative to the national average.
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities by Metropolitan Statistical Area Index where national average = 100
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.