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(CNN Spanish) --
Hawaii is the most expensive state to live in the United States, according to an analysis of the 2021 Cost of Living Index, followed by two Northeast territories: New York and the city of Washington.
With inflation hitting a 40-year high (and with the Joe Biden administration acknowledging that it failed to anticipate how long this indicator would affect American consumers), many may be wondering where they should live, since the differences between cities and states are significant.
The answer can be found in the Cost of Living Index.
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The Cost of Living Index is prepared by the Council for Economic and Community Research and gathers information from cities and metropolitan areas of the country that participate voluntarily.
Study categories such as the cost of groceries, housing, utilities, transportation, and health care.
In order to analyze the results at the state level, the Missouri Center for Economic Research and Information averaged that data.
The result shows that, beyond Hawaii, the Northeast and the West Coast are the areas where the states with the highest cost of living are.
On the contrary, in the Midwest and South there are those where life is cheaper.
This is how the ranking of the 10 most expensive states (including the city of Washington, in the independent District of Columbia) is made up.
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Hawaii
washington city
New York
California
Massachusetts
Oregon
Alaska
Maryland
Connecticut
Rhode Island
In these 10 states, the cost of living is higher than the national average, according to the index compiled by Missouri.
Hawaii's rate, for example, is nearly double the national rate: It's 193.3 versus 100, which represents the US average.
At the other end of the list are Mississippi, Kansas, and Alabama, which are significantly below the national average and are the cheapest three.
In Mississippi, for example, the rate is 83.3.
Florida, one of the states with a large Latino population, is in the middle of the table: in 25th place out of a total of 51 that includes the 50 states plus the city of Washington.
Texas is cheaper, ranking 37th.
California, leader of the ranking of urban areas
If instead of considering the cost of living at the state level, it is based on urban areas, California has four of the 10 most expensive: San Francisco, Long Beach, Orange County and Oakland.
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With two of the most expensive urban areas, New York follows in the list, which would be so according to the update of the first quarter of 2022 of the Cost of Living Index.
Manhattan - New York (New York)
Honolulu (Hawaii)
San francisco California)
Brooklyn - New York (New York)
City of Washington (District of Columbia)
Orange County, California
Long Beach, Los Angeles (California)
Boston (Massachusetts)
Seattle (Washington)
Oakland, Calif.
How to compare the cost of living
If you're considering relocating and looking for places where the cost of living is lower, you can check out CNN's online calculator that lets you compare what you're paying between two cities in various disaggregated categories and in general terms.
The comparison is made based on the figures of the Cost of Living Index and updated to 2021.