Two towns on either side of the country have risen fastest up the rankings of America’s costliest places to live over the past dozen years, according to data published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis Thursday.
At the start of last decade, Wenatchee, Washington was around the middle of 389 US metro areas ranked by price level — but by last year it had become the 36th most expensive city in the country, according to the bureau’s latest data on regional price parity.
The second-biggest climber is The Villages in Florida, a massive retirement community where prices have likely been lifted — relative to the rest of the country — by an inflow of people seeking housing and goods.
Measured by state, the most expensive places to live last year were Hawaii, California, and New York — and the cheapest were Mississippi, Alabama and Kentucky.
San Francisco remained the most expensive U.S. city last year and has held the top spot since 2018. New York City, the nation’s second-priciest metro area before the pandemic, has now dropped to fourth place.
The price gap between San Francisco and the rest of the country has at least narrowed a little. Prices were 22% higher than the U.S. average in 2018; now the difference is down to 20%.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.