The most expensive places to live in America

From CNBC, July 10. 2018 (excerpt)

There are some places in America where you can expect to pay a premium on everything — from food to your fuel bill. Out-of-control living expenses in some of these places may make it difficult for you and your family to enjoy the best possible quality of life.

Each year, as part of CNBC’s exclusive America’s Top States for Business study, we consider Cost of Living as one of our key categories of competitiveness. That is because companies seeking to recruit the best possible workforce know that low costs can be a great way to attract talent. We rank all 50 states based on an index of basic items including average home and food prices, monthly energy bills and health costs. That gives us not only the cheapest states to live in but also the most expensive ones.

Here are the 10 states that will cost you the most, along with prices for some basic items in each state’s most expensive area.

(Price data is based on the 2017 Annual Average Cost of Living Index by the Council for Community and Economic Research, C2ER.)

1. Hawaii

Who wouldn’t want to live in Hawaii — the sun, the surf, the Aloha spirit. Well, be prepared to pay. Even sugar — one of the island state’s most important crops — costs twice as much in Honolulu as it does in Florida. A half gallon of orange juice will cost you $5.56, nearly twice the price in Boise, Idaho. But the main culprits for the high cost of living here include energy; the average retail price of electricity in Hawaii is 33 percent higher than in the second most expensive state, Alaska, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. And then there is housing. Prices are high because supply and demand are so far out of balance. In other words, as we said, who wouldn’t want to live in Hawaii?

2018 Cost of Living score: 1 out of 50 points (Top States Grade: F)

• Most expensive area: Honolulu
• Average home price: $1,044,462
• Half gallon of milk: $3.64
• Ribeye steak: $13.06
• Monthly energy bill: $432.62
• Doctor visit: $127.14

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