9 States Where the Cost of Living Has Increased Most During Biden’s Presidency

While inflation has remained one of the biggest financial stories during President Joe Biden’s time in office, it seems to be worse in some places than others. With increased inflation, the cost of living becomes higher because more money is required to offset previous expenditures.

For example, housing prices have increased by 17.7% since Biden took office, making affordable housing difficult for the average American. If you’re in the middle of relocating, it’s ideal to know which states have had housing prices spike the most so you can make the most financially beneficial decision on where to move.

In light of this data, GOBankingRates found the states where the cost of living has increased the most during Biden’s presidency. Metrics for predicting and analyzing this data include the cost-of-living index change for singles, retired people and married couples with kids. The changes in value for each group helped to narrow down our list.

Here are the top states, in ascending order, where the cost of living has increased the most during Biden’s presidency.

• Cost-of-living (CoL) index change: 5.3
• All change: $48
• Retired index change: $42
• Married couples with kids change: $66
• Single change: $48
• Born 1981-1997 change: $46

• CoL index change: 7.5
• All change: $51
• Retired index change: $33
• Married couples with kids change: $72
• Single change: $55
• Born 1981-1997 change: $57

• CoL index change: 8.2
• All change: $54
• Retired index change: $90
• Married couples with kids change: $61
• Single change: $20
• Born 81-97 change: $26

• CoL index change: 5.4
• All change: $64
• Retired index change: $53
• Married couples with kids change: $88
• Single change: $85
• Born 1981-1997 change: $62

• CoL index change: 3.7
• All change: $64
• Retired index change: $76
• Married couples with kids change: $84
• Single change: $47
• Born 1981-1997 change: $50

• CoL index change: 0.2
• All change: $73
• Retired index change: $63
• Married couples with kids change: $102
• Single change: $70
• Born 1981-1997 change: $72

• CoL index change: 5.4
• All change: $87
• Retired index change: $82
• Married couples with kids change: $117
• Single change: $99
• Born 1981-1997 change: $98

• CoL index change: 2.1
• All change: $87
• Retired index change: $54
• Married couples with kids change: $130
• Single change: $97
• Born 1981-1997 change: $100

• Cost-of-living (CoL) index change: 11.1
• All change: $101
• Retired index change: $98
• Married couples with kids change: $123
• Single change: $84
• Born 1981-1997 change: $88

Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates analyzed each state’s cost-of-living indexes as sourced from the Missouri Economic and Research Information Center for each quarter from Q1 2021 to Q1 2024. Using the cost-of-living indexes, the average expenditure monthly cost can be calculated by using the national average expenditure costs for different groups of people, including all residents, retired residents, married couples with kids, single residents, and residents born between 1981-1997, as sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey. The difference in average costs and overall indexes were recorded and sorted to find the cost of living in every state since Biden took over. All data was collected on and is up to date as of July 19th, 2024.