Original cost-of-living research from PlainCost. Every numeric claim is derived directly from the BEA Regional Price Parities database, verifiable against the source agency.
What this research covers
PlainCost research decomposes BEA Regional Price Parities across 387 metro areas and 51 states; the live metro RPP span runs from 83.6 to 115.6 against the U.S. benchmark of 100.
RPP compares relative price levels, not household budgets or local inflation rates. Studies below keep that limit next to each finding.
A reproducible comparison of the two latest retained BEA state RPP releases. See where relative price levels moved most, which component moved with them, and why an index-point change is not a household inflation forecast.
Decomposition of the cost-of-living premium in the most expensive U.S. metros: how much comes from rents vs. services vs. goods. Derived from the BEA RPP database, every figure verifiable against the source agency.
A state-by-state decomposition of cost-of-living variation across the U.S. Comparing the top-5 most expensive states to the top-5 cheapest along each price component, with the rent/goods ratio as the headline finding.
The 25 most affordable U.S. metros and how the BEA cost-of-living discount distributes across rents, services, and goods. Implications for relocation arithmetic and salary expectations.
Have a research question we should tackle? Email us at hello@plaincost.com. We're prioritizing original research that derives every claim from our current dataset, with the underlying source documented in each article so a reviewer can replicate the finding against the original BEA, Census, BLS, or HUD source.
Download the compiled Regional Price Parities extract cited on this page: regional-price-parities.csv (CC BY 4.0). Method notes live on /methodology and /data.