Cost of Living in United States
Image credit: Tuxyso
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). United States: $75,489/capita.
Cities in United States
Washington, D.C.
CapitalPop. 6.4M
Los Angeles, CA
Pop. 12.5M
Chicago, IL
Pop. 8.9M
New York City, NY
Pop. 8.8M
Dallas, TX
Pop. 8.1M
Houston, TX
Pop. 7.3M
Phoenix, AZ
Pop. 1.7M
Philadelphia, PA
Pop. 1.6M
San Diego, CA
Pop. 1.4M
San Jose, CA
Pop. 997K
Austin, TX
Pop. 974K
Columbus, OH
Pop. 913K
Charlotte, NC
Pop. 911K
Seattle, WA
Pop. 781K
Denver, CO
Pop. 729K
Nashville, TN
Pop. 689K
Boston, MA
Pop. 654K
Portland, OR
Pop. 653K
Las Vegas, NV
Pop. 642K
Atlanta, GA
Pop. 511K
New Orleans, LA
Pop. 363K
Honolulu, HI
Pop. 351K
Orlando, FL
Pop. 335K
Pittsburgh, PA
Pop. 304K
Richmond, VA
Pop. 227K
Salt Lake City, UT
Pop. 216K
Charleston, SC
Pop. 133K
Burlington, VT
Pop. 42K
Aspen, CO
Pop. 8K
Income Category
Happiness
6.7 / 10
#22 globally
GDP per Capita
Population
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 31% lower than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).
Child Education
Public-school quality, expat access, instruction language, and homeschool legality for relocating families.
Public schools
How realistic the local public-school path is for a relocating family in United States.
Quality
Mixed public-school option
Expat access
Available to residents
conditionalInstruction
English
Language fit is more manageable.
PISA / outcomes
Qualitative only
Using curated quality notes for now.
Why this quality rating
The United States has many excellent public schools, but quality varies sharply by district and neighborhood.
Why the expat-access rating looks like this
Resident families can use local public schools, but school quality depends heavily on district assignment and housing location.
🗺️ Homeschooling
Varies by stateHomeschooling is legal in all 50 US states but regulations vary dramatically. Some states (TX, AK, ID) have minimal oversight; others (NY, PA, MA) require notification, testing, and curriculum approval. Most worldschooling families establish residency in low-regulation states.
Homeschool legality in United States — check current regulations before committing.
Source: User-curated family relocation research (initial seed) (2026-04-14)
Childcare & Domestic Help
Current city samples for the family-support costs we track in United States.
Full-time nanny (5 days)
$2,200-$5,700
33 tracked cities, not a national average
Live-in / 24-7 nanny
$2,750-$6,600
33 tracked cities, not a national average
Source: curated family relocation research
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in United States.
Method: country metrics come from public system indicators, facility coverage reflects mapped providers we can inventory, direct pricing only reflects observed self-pay pages, and relative care cost can fall back to broad cost-of-living healthcare indices. Sparse pricing does not imply sparse healthcare availability.
Healthcare system
StrongHigh national coverage, strong doctor availability, and deep nursing capacity support this rating.
Public care
StrongBroad public coverage, relatively low patient cost-sharing, and country-level outcomes are comparatively strong support this rating.
Private care
GoodA large tracked hospital and clinic network and a clearly private facility base help, but self-pay pricing transparency is still sparse.
UHC coverage
88/100
2023
Physicians
3.68/1k
2022
Hospital beds
2.68/1k
2022
Out of pocket
11%
2023
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
78.9 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
17/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
3.7/1k
2024
International patient readiness
GoodA visible private hospital base and multiple facilities have websites help, but price transparency is still sparse.
Pricing transparency
LimitedMultiple facilities have crawlable websites help, but published self-pay prices are scarce.
Facility coverage
Self-pay pricing visibility
No verified self-pay prices are published for the tracked facilities in United States yet.
This usually reflects low online price transparency rather than a lack of healthcare providers.
Notable facilities
System metrics: World Bank WDI · Updated 2026-06-01
Safety & Governance
Street Safety
Source: Numbeo where a city row is matched; otherwise World Bank WGI and country-level safety context.
Political Stability
World Bank WGI scale: -2.5 to +2.5.
Wages by Sector
| Sector | Median |
|---|---|
| Information & Technology | $165,040/yr |
| Finance & Insurance | $131,780/yr |
| Professional & Scientific Services | $127,250/yr |
| Utilities | $122,810/yr |
| Manufacturing | $107,490/yr |
| Transport & Logistics | $101,260/yr |
| Mining & Quarrying | $99,390/yr |
| Healthcare & Social Work | $83,860/yr |
| Real Estate | $82,860/yr |
| Other Services | $81,760/yr |
| Retail & Wholesale Trade | $79,390/yr |
| Education | $79,350/yr |
| Construction | $76,440/yr |
| Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | $75,810/yr |
| Administrative & Support Services | $70,110/yr |
| Agriculture & Farming | $52,640/yr |
| Hospitality & Food Service | $41,550/yr |
2025 annual wages in United States · Source: BLS OEWS
Visa Information (US passport)
Long-Term Visa Programs
investment
US EB-5 Immigrant Investor (Standard)About United States
United States is a high-income Northern American country where relocation quality depends heavily on the city and state you choose. Washington D.C. gives access to federal and policy jobs, while New York, San Francisco, and other major metros can push monthly living costs into the $1,500-$3,000+ range, placing the country on the high-cost side of the regional comparison. English is the working language, internet is fast and widespread, and universities and job markets remain major draws for skilled workers and entrepreneurs. The trade-offs are not small: healthcare can be excellent but extremely expensive without insurance, most work visas require H-1B, L-1, or employer-sponsored routes, safety varies by city, and daily life can mean car-dependent infrastructure, state-tax differences, and climate choices from tropical to arctic.
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Common questions about United States
Sourced from SortaRich's public-data ranking engine — every figure links to its institutional source.
Is United States a good country to live in?
United States is a good country to live in per the World Happiness Report (6.7 of 10, ranking #22 globally). Whether it's right for you depends on your priorities — use SortaRich's free quiz to see how United States ranks for your specific income, family, and visa profile.
Sources: World Happiness Report, SortaRich Methodology
How much does it cost to live in United States?
The cost of living in United States is about 31% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), with an overall cost-of-living index of 69. SortaRich personalizes these numbers to your home city's purchasing power so the comparison is real, not nominal.
Sources: SortaRich Cost of Living, World Bank ICP 2021
How far does $1 go in United States?
$1 in United States is close to purchasing-power parity with the baseline market (current PPP ratio: 1.00). The figure adjusts every year as exchange rates and local prices shift. SortaRich uses World Bank ICP 2021 as the anchor and Penn World Tables 11.0 for cross-validation.
Sources: World Bank ICP 2021, Penn World Tables 11.0
What are the best cities to live in United States?
The best cities to live in United States are Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City, Dallas — those are the most-searched options among the 29 cities profiled in the SortaRich database. Each city page includes a personalized PPP comparison versus your home city plus subnational price data where available.
Source: SortaRich City Index