The 5 most affordable states in America — and the 5 least affordable
Cost-of-living concerns will follow you wherever you live, but some states make it easier to get by than others
Affordability is on almost everyone’s mind these days, with tariffs, persistent inflation, and a housing crisis making things worse. But some states have more cost-of-living challenges than others.
In a new report, Oregon Generators, a company specializing in residential and commercial generator installation, set out to find the most and least affordable states.
It looked at data from all 50 states across eight weighted factors: median household income, typical home value, fair market house rent, average grocery costs, percentage of adults avoiding healthcare due to cost, average monthly utility costs, tax burden as percentage of income, and sales-tax rates.
“The states ranking highest for affordability share common traits: reasonable housing costs relative to income, manageable tax burdens, and accessible healthcare,” said Corey Gilgan of Oregon Generators.
Continue reading to see which states were ranked as the most and least affordable.
1 / 10
5th Most Affordable: Iowa
2 / 10
4th Most Affordable: Montana
3 / 10
3rd Most Affordable: South Dakota
4 / 10
2nd Most Affordable: Alaska
5 / 10
Most Affordable: New Hampshire
6 / 10
5th Least Affordable: Georgia
7 / 10
4th Least Affordable: New Jersey
8 / 10
3rd Least Affordable: Arizona
9 / 10
2nd Least Affordable: Hawaii
10 / 10
Least Affordable: California
