Free U.S. county cost tools
US Cost of Living Map & Calculator by County (2026)
Compare counties by estimated annual costs, salary needed, and the categories that move a real budget: housing, food, transportation, healthcare, childcare, taxes, and other necessities.
Explore the cost of living map
Scan U.S. counties and spot regional cost patterns quickly.
Open mapCompare counties
Put two counties side-by-side by household, salary, and category.
Compare nowBrowse by county
Start with state and county pages for annual cost breakdowns.
Browse countiesEstimate salary needed
See salary-needed guides by occupation and state.
View salary guides
Start with the map, then open a county or comparison for details.
3,000+
county-level pages
7
cost categories
10
household profiles
NO
accounts required
Map and calculator
Find the counties worth comparing
Use the map for a broad view, then use comparison pages to understand the annual dollar difference and salary-needed estimate between two locations.
Examples
Sample states and counties
Open a state hub to browse counties, or jump straight into a major county page with annual cost and income context.
Popular comparisons
Compare places people actually move between
Each comparison shows total cost, salary needed, and category-level differences.
Salary needed
Connect cost estimates to real roles
Salary pages combine state-level cost targets with occupation wage benchmarks when available.
Browse
State and county hubs
Use the directory pages when you want a crawlable, scannable path through the dataset instead of starting on the interactive map.
Data trust
Transparent estimates
WatchPennies explains its categories, source vintages, household assumptions, update cadence, and limitations in plain language.
The methodology page explains the full formula: total cost includes housing, food, transportation, healthcare, childcare, taxes, and other necessities. Salary needed is calculated from the target-to-base total cost ratio.
Read the methodologyFAQ
What can I compare on WatchPennies?
You can compare county-level annual costs for housing, food, transportation, healthcare, childcare, taxes, other necessities, and median income context.
Does WatchPennies estimate salary needed?
Yes. The comparison calculator estimates the salary needed in a target county by applying the target-to-base cost ratio to your current salary.
Is the map free to use?
Yes. WatchPennies is free to browse and does not require an account to use the map, county pages, or comparison calculator.