How to Check and Compare Cost of Living (United States Cities)

The cost of living can vary across states and cities in the United States. Generally, the larger and more metropolitan the cities the more expensive they tend to be. The basic goods and services such as; food, transportation, housing and entertainment are usually cheaper to obtain in the smaller cities.

For people relocating to other cities within a state, or to a different city and state checking the facts about the cost of living is an essential task. Here are some tips on finding and comparing cost of living within the United States.

Instructions

1. Check with your company's Human Resources department. Some of these departments provide relocating services to employees and can be a source for cost of living data and analysis. These departments use commercial cost of living calculators and services to help the employees during relocation. Provide salary data, family size and life style and they will compute the cost of living for a specific city and compare it to your current.

2. Visit the Bank Rate internet site at bank rate.com to calculate and compare cost of living. This calculator lets you compare the cost of living between two cities. Enter the "city where you are moving from" and "city where you are moving to", also input your salary amount. The results will compare the costs of goods and services for each of the two cities you entered.

3. Look in Personal Finance magazines for cost of living by cities. Search the internet for their websites. Most of the Personal Finance publications, such as Money magazine, Business Week and Fortune magazine have many articles on cost and standard of living by states and by cities. These publications rank cities by cost of living and you can compare where you stand given your salary and expense levels.

4. Get your cost of living data from more than one source. Compare these sources to ensure that you are getting reasonable numbers and accurate information.

Resources

• Bank Rate.com