Terms of Use

Acceptance of Terms

By accessing PlainCost, you agree to these terms of use. If you do not agree, please do not use the site.

Data Accuracy

PlainCost presents data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities. While we strive for accuracy, we cannot guarantee the completeness or timeliness of all information. Regional Price Parities are published annually and reflect historical data.

Not Financial Advice

The information on PlainCost is provided for general informational purposes only. It does not constitute financial, relocation, or cost-of-living advice. Actual costs in your area may differ from regional averages.

Disclaimer

PlainCost is not affiliated with the Bureau of Economic Analysis or any government agency. We are an independent site that transforms publicly available government data into an accessible format.

Intellectual Property

The underlying data is public domain (U.S. government work). The site design, code, and presentation are copyrighted. You may reference data with attribution but may not reproduce the site's design or functionality.

Limitation of Liability

PlainCost is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind. We are not liable for any decisions made based on information provided on this site.

Contact

For questions about these terms, contact us at legal@plaincost.com.

Data Accuracy and Verification

PlainCost aggregates and reformats information that originates from public government agencies, regulatory filings, and other openly available sources. While we take reasonable steps to ingest, normalize, and refresh this data, upstream records may contain clerical errors, lag behind real-world changes, or omit relevant context. You are solely responsible for verifying any fact that influences a legal, medical, financial, educational, safety, or similarly consequential decision. Cross-reference the official source before acting on anything you read here.

Acceptable Use

You may browse, read, and share PlainCost content for personal, journalistic, academic, and non-commercial research use. You may cite specific records with attribution and a link back to the page on plaincost.com. You may not (a) systematically scrape, crawl, or download the dataset in bulk without prior written permission; (b) resell, sublicense, or redistribute derived data products that compete with PlainCost; (c) use our pages to harass, defame, or misrepresent any individual or organization appearing in the data; (d) remove, obscure, or mislabel source attribution; or (e) attempt to bypass rate limits, security controls, or authentication mechanisms.

Editorial Process and Source Integrity

PlainCost combines raw public data with plain-language summaries, explainers, and comparisons. Plain-language explainer text is drafted by our editorial team from the source release and reviewed against the official notice before publication. Numeric values, ranks, and ratios are loaded directly from the upstream source — they are never altered, recomputed, or estimated for narrative purposes. If you spot a summary that misreads the data, please email the correction link on our contact page.

Intellectual Property — Extended

The underlying public records surfaced on PlainCost are in the public domain or otherwise freely licensed by the issuing agency — you are free to use those raw facts. However, our site design, layout, navigation structure, original editorial copy, category taxonomies, comparison tables, and curated rankings are the copyrighted work of Kiznis Studio. These creative elements may not be reproduced in whole or substantial part without permission.

Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms of Use from time to time to reflect changes in our data sources, product features, legal environment, or advertising relationships. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date above and — when appropriate — surface a brief notice on the homepage. Continued use of the site after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised terms. We encourage you to revisit this page periodically.

Governing Law and Disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the United States and the jurisdiction in which Kiznis Studio is domiciled, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. Any dispute arising from or relating to your use of PlainCost will first be addressed through good-faith informal negotiation. If that fails, both parties agree to resolve the dispute in the courts with jurisdiction over Kiznis Studio's principal place of business. Nothing in these terms limits your statutory consumer-protection rights under applicable local law.

For formal legal notices, DMCA takedown requests, subpoenas, law-enforcement requests, or correspondence regarding these terms, email legal@plaincost.com. General questions, data corrections, and feedback should use the contact page so they reach the editorial team promptly.