How Much It Will Actually Cost To Live on the Coast vs. the Interior in 2026
Written by
John Csiszar
Edited by
Amen Oyiboke
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Living on the coast is a dream for many, but that lifestyle comes with a price. Even though you can often earn a higher wage working near the coast, higher expenses can eat up some or all of that income advantage. For many, however, the trade-off may still be worth it.
To better understand how costs differ, here’s a real-world look at expenses in two city pairs: Los Angeles and Cleveland, and New York City and Tulsa. Data for rent, utilities, groceries, transportation and other essentials show what a monthly budget might actually look like in these four cities.
Los Angeles vs. Cleveland: High Coastal Costs vs. Interior Stability
Los Angeles is known for its beach culture, celebrity lifestyle and multicultural cuisine, among many other desirable features. But it is also famous for its high cost of living, with housing representing a large share.
According to Apartment List, the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles is about $2,300 per month, though that figure can vary widely by neighborhood and timing. According to SoFi, the median income in California is $74,819, or about $6,235 per month. If 20% goes to taxes and other withholdings, take-home pay falls to roughly $4,988 per month. In that scenario, a $2,300 apartment would consume about 46% of take-home pay — an exceptionally high share.
But that’s just step one in the calculation. Utilities in Los Angeles also tend to run higher than the national average. Cost-of-living data from Apartments.com shows that the average in Los Angeles is $405 per month, or 7.4% higher than the U.S. average. Transportation costs are even worse, running 35.5% more than the national average, at $527 per month.
Other categories follow the same pattern. Goods and services, groceries and health care come in at 20.9%, 8.5% and 0.7% above the national average, respectively. In dollar terms, those costs amount to $1,290, $751 and $145 per month.
Overall, just these categories alone amount to $5,418 per month.
Now, compare these costs with the interior of America, represented by Cleveland, Ohio, in this example. As you can imagine, costs across the board are much lower in Cleveland. How much so? Here’s a look at the monthly numbers, as provided by Apartments.com and Apartment List:
- Rent: $1,297 (20.5% below the U.S. average)
- Utilities: $328 (13% lower than the U.S. average)
- Transportation: $379 (2.6% lower than the U.S. average)
- Goods and services: $1,058 (0.8% lower than the U.S. average)
- Groceries: $695 (0.4% above the U.S. average
- Healthcare: $148 (2.8% above the U.S. average)
Taken as a whole, these expenses total just $3,905 per month, or 28% less than living in Los Angeles.
New York City vs. Tulsa: A Much Wider Gap
If Los Angeles and Cleveland show a noticeable difference, New York City and Tulsa reveal just how dramatic the coast-versus-interior divide can be.
In New York City, rent is even more of a burden on its residents. Although cost can vary wildly by borough and apartment size, Apartment List puts the average one-bedroom rent in New York City at $2,367 – but it can often run $5,000 or more.
Here’s how the other average monthly expenses break down for New York City:
- Utilities: $436 (15.6% above the U.S. average)
- Transportation: $456 (17.2% above the U.S. average)
- Goods and services: $1,358 (27.3% above the U.S. average)
- Groceries: $816 (17.9% above the U.S. average)
- Healthcare: $210 (45.8% above the U.S. average)
Any way you slice it, it costs a pretty penny to live in New York City. And these are just the averages – there are plenty of high-priced areas in NYC where these expenses are dramatically higher. Overall, however, these averages total $5,643.
Now compare that to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where costs are far more reasonable – as they have to be, with the median income in Oklahoma as a whole coming in at just $55,362 per year, according to SoFi.
The average rent in Tulsa is just $893, 45% below the national average, per Apartments.com. Here’s how the other major expenses break out in Tulsa:
- Utilities: $373 (1.1% below the national average)
- Transportation: $338 (13.1% below the national average)
- Goods and services: $1,014 (5% below the national average)
- Groceries: $672 (2.9% lower than the national average)
- Healthcare: $148 (2.8% above the national average)
Generally, most expenses in Tulsa are well below the national average. These major spending categories total just $3,438 per month — cheaper even than in Cleveland, and well below the amounts the average New Yorker spends. In practical terms, what may require a six-figure income to sustain comfortably in New York City could be achievable on a $50,000 to $70,000 annual income in Tulsa, depending on personal spending habits.
The Bottom Line
Living on the coast, particularly in “prestige” destinations, will continue to be more expensive than living in the interior of the U.S. for the foreseeable future. With inflation still running above 3% annually, the costs listed above will likely increase even more in 2026, even though the specific amount you might spend will no doubt vary from these figures.
However, forewarned is forearmed. With this information, you can make reasonable budget projections if you’re looking to decide whether you should live in the interior or on the coast.
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