Cost-of-Living › Methodology
Cost-of-Living Power Rankings — Methodology
Field: 100 metros. Accountable official: Mayor. Cadence: monthly. Data retrieved 2026-06-18.
Cost index uses BEA Regional Price Parities (free, official) as the spec-authorized substitute for the paid C2ER COLI. Headline inflation is national/Fed-driven and NOT mayor-controlled; local accountability is framed only around housing supply, local taxes, and utilities.
Weights are public so the ranking cannot be called rigged. Each dimension is normalized 0–100 across all ranked metros (min–max; inverted where lower is better), multiplied by its weight, and summed to the 0–100 composite. A metric that is unavailable for an entity is never estimated — the remaining weights are rescaled and the composite flagged “partial.”
| Dimension | Source | Direction | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall price level (RPP, all items) | BEA RPP 2024, all items (US=100) | Lower better ▼ | 34 |
| Housing price level (RPP) | BEA RPP 2024, services: housing | Lower better ▼ | 26 |
| Goods price level (RPP) | BEA RPP 2024, goods | Lower better ▼ | 14 |
| Utilities price level (RPP) | BEA RPP 2024, services: utilities | Lower better ▼ | 14 |
| Purchasing power of $100 | Derived: 10000 ÷ all-items RPP | Higher better ▲ | 12 |
| Transportation pending | not a separate BEA RPP component | — | 0 |
| Healthcare pending | C2ER-only; not in BEA RPP | — | 0 |
Provenance
Primary source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis · https://apps.bea.gov/regional/.