The 10 Most Expensive States In The United States

The 10 Most Expensive States In America For 2026

1. Massachusetts

Here’s what’s interesting about Massachusetts. A lot of people who live there complain about the high taxes, and call it taxachusetts. But Massachusetts actually has the lowest taxes of any state we’re talking about today, except Alaska, at about $3,500 a year.

But what really gets you in this damn state is the cost of health care and child care. On average, a Massachusettsian can expect to pay about $7,000 a year in health care costs, and about $16,000 a year in child care. Man, if this isn’t birth control advice, I don’t know what is.

A typical Massachusetts family would have to earn about $77,000 a year to eek out a living. If mom or dad is an epidemilogist, that would bring in enough dough. Epidemologists study diseases.

Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Living Wage: $164,780
Housing: $30,181
Child Care: $41,712
More On Massachusetts: Photos | Rent

2. Hawaii

In Hawaii, housing costs are around $15,000 a year, which isn’t surprising, since the average Hawaii home is more than $600k. Taxes, and property taxes, are the highest in the nation, and since there’s a shortage in child care, you can expect to pay like $9,000 a year per kid!

Have you ever visited Hawaii? A gallon of milk is like $8. Dinner is about $50 to $60, depending on how many drinks you have. And gas is going to be the highest you’ll see in America. Much of these commodity costs are because Hawaii is an island, and it costs a lot of money to get things there.

Sure, it’s a pretty place, and there’s hula girls everywhere, and you can see kangaroos and polar bears right outside your front door, but, gee whiz, what a price tag it comes with.

Rank Last Year: 5 (Up 3)
Living Wage: $156,562
Housing: $30,661
Child Care: $28,615
More On Hawaii: Photos | Rent

3. California

California certainly isn’t a walk in the park, either, when you look at the cost of living in the Golden State. Taxes, housing costs and child care are all in the top 5 in the nation. Food costs are tied with Colorado as the most expensive – although I don’t know why more Californians don’t just eat burritos all damn day. And housing costs are on par with new york, where you can expect to pay, on average, $13,200 a year.

But try living in an actual real city in California, and you’ll send closer to $3,000 a month on rent or a mortgage. Most professionals can’t afford to live near downtown LA or San Francisco, and move out into the suburbs, which means longer commute times, which means more working hours. It’s a never ending cycle.

What is surprising about California is the average health care costs – where a family of four can expect to pay about $13,000 a year. That’s not bad, in comparison with other states on this list. A family of 4 needs about $40 an hour between both working parents, to stay out of poverty. And you can basically double that if you actually want to live near a real actual city. Required income before taxes in Cali – as the cool kids say – is $81,000.

In California, unless one person is loaded, both mom and dad work, which means two cars and child care costs.

Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 1)
Living Wage: $151,355
Housing: $31,234
Child Care: $30,686
More On California: Photos | Rent

4. Connecticut

Lordy, the cost of living in Connecticut is sky high!

A couple with two kids would have to make about $76,000 – or about a grand more a year than their New Jersey neighbors in order to live comfortably. You could be an animal control worker? Or, one of you stays at home to save an estimated $13,000 a year, and one of you gets a job as, say a social worker? Either way, you’re not gonna save a lot on those salaries in Connecticut, that’s for sure. Sure, places like Bridgeport or New Haven will be far less expensive than, in say Greenwich, where you’d need about $110,000 a year to live comfortably.

Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 5)
Living Wage: $149,091
Housing: $24,460
Child Care: $36,644
More On Connecticut: Photos | Rent

5. New Jersey

Where’s our next most expensive state to live? That would be the Garden State itself, New Jersey. Here in Jersey, the average cost in the big six – food, child care, cars, housing, medical and taxes are in the top 5 for every category.

Especially health care costs. New Jersey is tied with Massachusetts for the highest annual health care costs, at about $7,700 a year for a family of four. Well, just don’t get sick, and you should be okay. Housing costs aren’t anything to sleep on, either, especially if you’re renting. If you want to share a two bedroom place in Jersey, expect to pony up about $900 a month each.

Did you know New Jersey has the nation’s 6th highest income taxes and highest property taxes? First highest? Is that even a word?

To live a lower middle class lifestyle in New Jersey, you and your spouse would have to bring in about $75,000 a year, or average about $18.25 each. Job wise, that means you’d be working as a small engine mechanic or a dental assistant. And, If you don’t have a decent job, you’d likely be eating at Wawa everyday. Not that that’s such a bad thing, though.

Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 2)
Living Wage: $147,567
Housing: $26,950
Child Care: $35,892
More On New Jersey: Photos | Rent

6. New York

Welcome to New York, which is the sixth most expensive place you could live in our fine country. In New York child care is $23,000 for two kids a year. Taxes here are no joke either. This is the second highest taxed state on today’s list, where the average family can expect to pay more than $5,000 a year in income taxes.

Now if you live in Franklin County New York, you might as well be in Canada, but your cost of living needs would be fairly doable. But if you wanted to live in the NY metro area, look out, pal. Housing, medical costs and food are really, really high in the Empire State. And what about cigarettes? Those cost like $15. A simple dinner is $40 per person. Young professionals in NYC have to eat ramen until they get their next paychecks. You can understand why – when apartments cost like $3,000 a month for a real dump.

For fun, if you have anything left at the end of the day, you could go to a $100 broadway show, $35 to get into the Bronx Zoo, or $32 to get to the top of the Empire State building. No wonder NY natives stay away from the tourist trap. Well at least if you live in many areas of New York, where it’s most expensive, you can not own a car. That helps save some money.

Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 2)
Living Wage: $145,758
Housing: $28,617
Child Care: $31,830
More On New York: Photos | Rent

7. Colorado

Love crunching numbers? You probably won’t want to go look closely at the numbers in Colorado. For some odd reason, food prices in Colorado are higher than anywhere else in the country – except Hawaii. You can plan on a family of 4 spending ten grand, or about 900 a month, on food alone. However, the good news: If you go to Coors Field in Denver, beer prices are the cheapest in all of America, at about $3 each.

Now, people who are dealing with outrageous prices in the Denver area won’t agree, but overall, annual housing costs in Colorado are the cheapest of any other state on this list. Whether you rent or own, you’ll pay somewhere around $10,000 a year, on average, for housing costs. Obviously, the snobs in Aspen pay more than that – some people up here pay like $10,000 a month for their mortgages.

To live a decent life in Colorado, mom and dad both need to bring in about $17.50 an hour each – or $73,000 yearly, combined.

Now, 18 million jobs pay less than $10 an hour in America. There’s no way people in Colorado could exist on a fast food wage, or as a cashier. At least, comfortably.

Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 1)
Living Wage: $141,610
Housing: $22,489
Child Care: $35,327
More On Colorado: Photos | Rent

8. Washington

Rank Last Year: 14 (Up 6)
Living Wage: $140,915
Housing: $24,276
Child Care: $34,701
More On Washington: Photos | Rent

9. Oregon

Rank Last Year: 13 (Up 4)
Living Wage: $140,491
Housing: $20,549
Child Care: $31,456
More On Oregon: Photos | Rent

10. Vermont

Vermont is one of the most expensive states to live in because of its reputation for natural beauty and high quality of life. Several factors contribute to Vermont’s high cost of living, with housing costs being a significant driver. The state’s picturesque landscapes and vibrant communities make it a desirable place to live, leading to increased demand for housing. Additionally, Vermont’s cold winters necessitate high heating costs, further straining household budgets.

Another contributing factor to Vermont’s high cost of living is its relatively small population and rural character. With a smaller tax base and less population density, the state has to allocate resources more thinly across its public services and infrastructure. This can result in higher property taxes and healthcare costs, which, in turn, contribute to the overall expense of living in Vermont.

Rank Last Year: 12 (Up 2)
Living Wage: $140,205
Housing: $19,668
Child Care: $36,364
More On Vermont: Photos | Rent

Methodology: How We Determined The Most Expensive States In America For 2026

Usually, when we measure how expensive a state is, we check in on a cost of living index. That analyzes the costs of goods in the basket of things like housing, milk, utilities, and gas across the country.

But for this analysis, we had an even better source — MIT’s Living Wage data.

The MIT team compiles the best geographical data on what a family of various sizes can realistically expect to spend to live a decent life each year. Not super comfy, but not in poverty.

In particular, they look at the cost of the following items:

• Food
• Child Care
• Medical
• Housing
• Transportation
• Other Personal Necessities
• Taxes

They updated their data at the beginning of 2026, so we can take a fresh look at it.

Specifically, this analysis uses the average required wage for two adults and one child in every state. We ranked the living wage from highest to lowest, with the highest being the most expensive.

The highest state, Massachusetts, was crowned the most expensive state in the United States for 2026. (Although DC would like a word if you consider that a state.)

Summary: The Most Expensive States In The United States To Live For 2026

That’s our tour of the most expensive states in the United States. After all the dust settled and the analysis was over, we crowned Massachusetts as the most expensive state to live in America for 2026. If you live in the states we just discussed, odds are you work hard and only have a little to show for it. But hey – as long as you’re safe and healthy and have a glass of wine to numb the pain, you’ll be okay.

When you stop to think about it, being expensive is probably a good thing — it means people must really want to live there and the economy is doing well. So, even though it might be 30% cheaper in Mississippi, I doubt anyone will be moving there from California.

Here’s a quick look at the cheapest states in the United States:

1. Mississippi
2. Kentucky
3. Arkansas

For more reading, check out:

• Worst Mid-Sized Cities
• Worst Places To Live In America
• Safest Cities In America

Detailed List Of The Most Expensive States In America For 2026