Here Are the Cheapest Cities To Live in the Most Expensive States 

Even famously expensive states have relatively inexpensive places to live. It’s all about knowing where to look. 

Among the 16 most expensive states (annual living costs of more than $80,000 a year), there are cities where living costs come in tens of thousands of dollars below state averages. The $40,000 to $50,000 range is the most common.

In a recent analysis, GOBankingRates has taken those 16 states and identified the least expensive city in terms of living costs for each. The cities were pulled from Zillow’s list of the 2,500 largest U.S. cities, based on housing market size, for March 2025. The threshold was increased to 4,000 for Maine, North Dakota and Vermont. Cost-of-living data was sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Sperling’s BestPlaces. 

Here’s a rundown on the least expensive city in each of these expensive states, along with side-by-side costs.

Also see the cost of living in every state.

• State’s ranking on the “most expensive” list: 16^th  
• Average annual cost of living in state: $81,067 
• Average annual cost of living in city: $36,876 

Cedar City is located about 250 miles southwest of Salt Lake City and 170 miles northeast of Las Vegas. Cedar City comes in below the national average for grocery costs, at about $465 a month.  

• State’s ranking on the “most expensive” list: 15^th  
• Average annual cost of living in state: $86,167 
• Average annual cost of living in city: $39,046 

You’ll find Sierra Vista about 20 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border in southeast Arizona. Monthly rent here will cost you about $1,400 on average.  

• State’s ranking on the “most expensive” list: 14^th  
• Average annual cost of living in state: $86,554 
• Average annual cost of living in city: $34,981 

Klamath Falls is a town of about 22,000 residents, located about 15 miles north of the California border on U.S. Route 97. It comes in below national averages for groceries (97.3% of the average), healthcare (99.6%), utilities (94%) and transportation (68.6%). 

• State’s ranking on the “most expensive” list: 13^th  
• Average annual cost of living in state: $86,631 
• Average annual cost of living in city: $36,531 

Waterville is located along the Kennebec River, about 80 miles northeast of Portland, Maine. Average monthly rent in this college town comes in just shy of $1,300. Average healthcare costs are roughly $5,800 a year, below national averages. 

• State’s ranking on the “most expensive” list: 12^th  
• Average annual cost of living in state: $86,708 
• Average annual cost of living in city: $42,655 

Woonsocket sits along the Rhode Island-Massachusetts border, about 15 miles north of Providence. Annual healthcare costs around $5,400, and you can expect to pay roughly $530 each month for groceries.  

• State’s ranking on the “most expensive” list: 11^th  
• Average annual cost of living in state: $86,785 
• Average annual cost of living in city: $42,706 

You’ll find the town of East Hartford across the Connecticut River from Hartford, the state capital. Despite its relative cheapness compared to state averages, East Hartford exceeds national averages for groceries ($524 a month), healthcare ($7,021 a year), utilities ($463 a month) and transportation ($6,938 a year). 

• State’s ranking on the “most expensive” list: 10^th  
• Average annual cost of living in state: $87,017 
• Average annual cost of living in city: $43,374 

Rochester sits on the eastern edge of New Hampshire, about an hour drive east of Concord. You can save around $40,000 a year living here compared to the state average, but monthly rent will still run you $1,700+ a month.  

• State’s ranking on the “most expensive” list: 9^th  
• Average annual cost of living in state: $88,254 
• Average annual cost of living in city: $35,811 

Yakima is a city with about 100,000 residents, located about 150 miles southeast of Seattle in south-central Washington. It’s significantly cheaper than Seattle and comes in below national averages for grocery costs (about $500 a month) and healthcare costs ($5,352 a year). Rent in Yakima costs $1,260 a month on average.  

• State’s ranking on the “most expensive” list: 8^th  
• Average annual cost of living in state: $88,408 
• Average annual cost of living in city: $49,474 

Burlington is located in northwestern Vermont along the shore of Lake Champlain. In this list of cheap cities in expensive states, Burlington is second only to Wahiawa, Hawaii, for the highest average monthly rent with costs of $2,031. Burlington also exceeds national averages for grocery costs ($562 a month), healthcare (nearly $8,000 a year), utilities ($433 a month) and transportation ($5,179 a year). 

• State’s ranking on the “most expensive” list: 7^th  
• Average annual cost of living in state: $88,563 
• Average annual cost of living in city: $42,685 

Millville is part of the state’s South Jersey region. Living here can save you roughly $46,000 a year compared to average state living costs. Monthly rent comes in at $1,638 on average.  

• State’s ranking on the “most expensive” list: 6^th  
• Average annual cost of living in state: $89,104 
• Average annual cost of living in city: $33,347 

Located in western Maryland along the Potomac River, Cumberland has about 19,000 residents. Healthcare costs here — about $5,200 a year — are about 84% of the national median. Monthly rent will run you about $1,034. 

• State’s ranking on the “most expensive” list: 5^th  
• Average annual cost of living in state: $95,286 
• Average annual cost of living in city: $31,821 

Jamestown sits in southwest New York, about 70 miles southwest of Buffalo. You can find monthly rent here for less than $1,000 (just $913 on average). Your grocery bill will be $480 per month on average.  

• State’s ranking on the “most expensive” list: 4^th  
• Average annual cost of living in state: $95,673 
• Average annual cost of living in city: $46,262 

The only state capital to appear in this list, Anchorage offers relatively reasonable average monthly rent costs of around $1,600. Groceries will run you about $617 a month.  

• State’s ranking on the “most expensive” list: 3^rd  
• Average annual cost of living in state: $111,901 
• Average annual cost of living in city: $39,321 

You’ll find Porterville roughly halfway between Fresno and Bakersfield in the San Joaquin Valley. Porterville’s average monthly rent of $1,252 can be tough to find in other parts of the state. Groceries here will cost you just shy of $500 a month, slightly below the national average.  

• State’s ranking on the “most expensive” list: 2^nd  
• Average annual cost of living in state: $112,752 
• Average annual cost of living in city: $33,347 

Holyoke is located just north of Springfield in south-central Massachusetts. Monthly rent here will cost you $1,534 on average. You can do well in Holyoke compared to national averages for healthcare ($5,623 a year). 

• State’s ranking on the “most expensive” list: 1^st  
• Average annual cost of living in state: $144,436 
• Average annual cost of living in city: $58,317 

Wahiawa is a relatively expensive place to live compared to many other U.S. cities, but consider the delta between living here and living in other parts of Hawaii. Located on the island of Oahu, Wahiawa comes in about $86,000 cheaper for annual living costs than the state average. Rent in Wahiawa still costs $2,221 on average, and groceries will cost you nearly $700 a month. 

Editor’s note: Photos are for representational purposes only and might not reflect the exact locations listed.

Methodology: For this piece GOBankingRates looked at the 2,500 largest cities in terms of housing market size, according to Zillow’s March 2025 data. With these cities isolated, GOBankingRates found the city with the cheapest 2025 rent and from there found the annual essentials (Rent, Groceries, Utilities, Transportation, and Healthcare) cost of living for these places. Cost-of-living figures were calculated by first finding the annual average expenditure, as sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2023 Consumer Expenditure Survey and from there used cost-of-living indices sourced from Sperling’s Best Places. For ME, ND, and VT the market size was relaxed to 4,000. All data was collected on and is up to date as of May 14, 2025.