State rankings
Cheapest States to Live In
Hawaii has the highest COLI Grocery Costs Index in 2025 (131.4), followed by Alaska (125.0) and California (109.3). Arkansas has the lowest (94.3).
Economics51 states · 7 metricsUpdated Mar 14, 2025Original page
10 sources
- Cost of Living Data Series - Missouri Economic Research and Information Center
- Average Rent by Year - iProperty Management
- Cost of Living Index by Country - Numbeo
- Fact Sheet: Homelessness in California - Senate Housing Committee
- Income and Poverty in the United States - US Census Bureau
- Living Wage Calculator - MIT
- American Households' Average Monthly Expenses: $5,577 - The Ascent
- Real Median Personal Income in the United States - FRED Economic Data
- Unemployment Rates for States - US Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Utility Bills 101: Utilities Tips, Average Costs, Fees, and More - Move
51 of 51 states
COLI Grocery Costs Index, 2025
Green is better, red is worse (lower is better). Click a place to highlight it.
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All 51 ranked
Best first.
Distribution Median and middle halfThe median is the middle value: half of places are above it, half below. The middle half is the range holding the central 50% of places.More in the glossary →
Each dot is one state; the lines mark the median and the middle half.
Median
99.5
Middle half 97.3 – 102.7
Average
101.1
51 states
Lowest (best)
94.3
Arkansas
Highest (worst)
131.4
Hawaii
Over time · 2023–2025
The top 5 in 2025, against the median.
- Median of all states
- Arkansas
- Texas
- Oklahoma
- Mississippi
- Missouri
Data
Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.
51 states · # = rank by COLI Grocery Costs Index
| # | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Arkansas | 94.3 | 74.8 | 90.7 | 90.0 | 85.7 | 96.7 |
| 2 |  Texas | 95.3 | 82.0 | 105.3 | 92.8 | 94.5 | 96.6 |
| 3 |  Oklahoma | 95.4 | 68.6 | 95.4 | 90.7 | 96.6 | 90.4 |
| 4 |  Mississippi | 95.5 | 73.9 | 88.9 | 89.8 | 99.3 | 93.3 |
| 5 |  Missouri | 95.9 | 77.8 | 98.8 | 87.2 | 91.8 | 91.9 |
| 5 |  Kansas | 95.9 | 72.4 | 98.7 | 90.1 | 94.5 | 90.8 |
| 7 |  West Virginia | 96.3 | 59.9 | 96.6 | 93.1 | 97.7 | 90.2 |
| 8 |  Louisiana | 96.4 | 83.8 | 78.5 | 95.4 | 96.6 | 99.4 |
| 9 |  Iowa | 96.6 | 74.8 | 92.9 | 97.6 | 95.8 | 95.4 |
| 10 |  Tennessee | 96.8 | 83.2 | 87.2 | 89.1 | 88.6 | 94.9 |
| 10 |  North Dakota | 96.8 | 80.1 | 81.0 | 99.8 | 108.2 | 98.8 |
| 12 |  Utah | 96.9 | 116.8 | 96.2 | 108.1 | 88.4 | 101.8 |
| 13 |  New Mexico | 97.0 | 86.9 | 84.3 | 90.1 | 102.7 | 99.0 |
| 14 |  Alabama | 97.5 | 69.5 | 100.0 | 90.8 | 87.0 | 95.6 |
| 15 |  South Dakota | 97.7 | 88.1 | 83.5 | 98.3 | 101.0 | 92.4 |
| 16 |  Georgia | 97.8 | 79.2 | 97.4 | 96.0 | 100.4 | 94.6 |
| 17 |  Pennsylvania | 98.5 | 84.3 | 106.0 | 104.3 | 90.6 | 97.9 |
| 18 |  Nebraska | 98.6 | 80.0 | 88.4 | 96.7 | 100.0 | 100.6 |
| 19 |  Idaho | 98.9 | 100.9 | 77.9 | 109.6 | 98.5 | 106.7 |
| 20 |  North Carolina | 99.0 | 93.3 | 97.1 | 93.6 | 104.7 | 101.6 |
| 20 |  South Carolina | 99.0 | 86.7 | 102.3 | 94.7 | 93.0 | 101.1 |
| 22 |  Indiana | 99.2 | 77.1 | 90.5 | 98.7 | 97.3 | 95.4 |
| 23 |  Michigan | 99.3 | 73.7 | 98.0 | 99.6 | 89.3 | 96.5 |
| 24 |  Ohio | 99.4 | 85.7 | 99.3 | 95.9 | 94.5 | 97.2 |
| 24 |  New Hampshire | 99.4 | 117.5 | 112.4 | 105.6 | 104.1 | 117.1 |
| 26 |  Wisconsin | 99.5 | 91.6 | 92.6 | 98.3 | 106.4 | 100.3 |
| 27 |  Virginia | 99.7 | 104.5 | 99.8 | 94.9 | 105.0 | 99.3 |
| 28 |  Illinois | 99.8 | 83.3 | 99.5 | 103.4 | 99.1 | 97.7 |
| 28 |  Kentucky | 99.8 | 78.7 | 83.9 | 96.8 | 106.6 | 101.2 |
| 28 |  Wyoming | 99.8 | 88.6 | 89.1 | 92.4 | 104.3 | 100.2 |
| 31 |  Minnesota | 100.6 | 80.9 | 97.4 | 95.1 | 105.0 | 101.7 |
| 32 |  Maine | 101.0 | 128.7 | 111.0 | 107.5 | 113.7 | 104.5 |
| 33 |  Colorado | 101.2 | 107.7 | 89.3 | 94.8 | 104.3 | 102.6 |
| 34 |  Delaware | 101.3 | 97.4 | 98.2 | 102.2 | 102.4 | 102.9 |
| 35 |  Rhode Island | 101.4 | 113.4 | 140.0 | 96.3 | 104.6 | 114.2 |
| 36 |  Montana | 101.6 | 86.5 | 83.3 | 109.7 | 106.3 | 96.6 |
| 37 |  Arizona | 101.9 | 131.9 | 105.3 | 104.4 | 92.7 | 105.2 |
| 38 |  Massachusetts | 102.7 | 218.8 | 150.0 | 109.5 | 125.7 | 115.3 |
| 38 |  Nevada | 102.7 | 107.7 | 103.9 | 119.0 | 87.1 | 92.0 |
| 40 |  New York | 103.3 | 168.0 | 99.7 | 106.8 | 108.9 | 106.9 |
| 41 |  New Jersey | 103.5 | 136.9 | 100.6 | 105.6 | 107.5 | 107.5 |
| 42 |  Connecticut | 103.6 | 117.2 | 135.9 | 104.8 | 109.9 | 109.0 |
| 43 |  Florida | 104.3 | 108.1 | 101.9 | 98.8 | 99.0 | 99.0 |
| 44 |  District of Columbia | 104.8 | 222.4 | 102.6 | 107.7 | 117.4 | 113.3 |
| 45 |  Maryland | 105.4 | 135.8 | 110.3 | 101.7 | 100.9 | 108.9 |
| 46 |  Vermont | 105.5 | 129.7 | 112.6 | 95.8 | 111.4 | 111.1 |
| 47 |  Oregon | 106.8 | 133.3 | 89.7 | 118.6 | 109.7 | 101.1 |
| 48 |  Washington | 108.0 | 126.9 | 92.6 | 123.7 | 118.1 | 109.9 |
| 49 |  California | 109.3 | 208.7 | 139.8 | 136.7 | 107.7 | 115.3 |
| 50 |  Alaska | 125.0 | 118.0 | 152.8 | 114.3 | 150.0 | 118.9 |
| 51 |  Hawaii | 131.4 | 310.0 | 198.0 | 133.3 | 121.1 | 130.5 |
What correlates with COLI Grocery Costs Index (2025)?
Pearson r against 2,090 other state metrics sharing at least 31 states. Ranks are read by standing: a better rank counts as higher, whether rank 1 is the best place on a list or the worst. Correlation is not causation.
Higher together
Places that have a higher COLI Grocery Costs Index tend to score higher on these (or rank better)
Opposite directions
Places that have a higher COLI Grocery Costs Index tend to score lower on these (or rank worse)
Quick answers
- Which state has the highest COLI Grocery Costs Index?
- Hawaii has the highest COLI Grocery Costs Index in 2025, at 131.4, followed by Alaska (125.0) and California (109.3).
- Which state has the lowest COLI Grocery Costs Index?
- Arkansas has the lowest COLI Grocery Costs Index in 2025, at 94.3.
- What is the median COLI Grocery Costs Index across US states?
- The median is 99.5 across the 51 US states with data in 2025.
- Where does this cheapest states to live in data come from?
- Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: Cost of Living Data Series - Missouri Economic Research and Information Center; Average Rent by Year - iProperty Management; Cost of Living Index by Country - Numbeo; Fact Sheet: Homelessness in California - Senate Housing Committee.