Key findings
1) New York sets the top-cost baseline and also leads transit.
New York is the highest baseline (COL 100.0, Rent 100.0) and has the strongest Transit Score (89).
2) Purchasing power doesn’t track perfectly with cost.
Seattle (COL 90.4) and San Francisco (COL 97.3) still show very high purchasing power (166.9 and 160.9), suggesting income can partially offset price pressure in this dataset.
3) Philadelphia is the rent outlier.
Philadelphia has the lowest rent index (43.4) while keeping Walk/Transit at 75/67.
4) “Food costs” can spike independently.
San Francisco has the highest groceries (106.5) and restaurants (102.2) indices in the table.
5) Jersey City is a mobility-forward mid-cost option.
Jersey City pairs strong walk/transit (87/70) with lower COL (78.2) than NYC, but rent remains high (70.7).
How to read the table
Useful pairs:
• Rent + Purchasing Power for affordability context
• Walk + Transit for car-free lifestyle
• Groceries + Restaurants for daily spending pressure