The 10 Most and Least Expensive Metro Areas in the U.S.

New York, California and Hawaii are home to the most expensive metro areas in the United States, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The data, which measures price level differences by region, is an important addition to Bureau of Economic Analysis research on the highest and lowest tax rates in the U.S. See, there’s a sharp and clear difference between living in, say, upper state New York and living in Manhattan, N.Y., Zero Hedge reported, citing additional Bureau of Economic Analysis data.

The metro data therefore gives a clearer picture of the actual costs of living from region to region.

“[S]tate level data is largely useless when there are extensive price differentials within any given state,” Zero Hedge adds.

So perhaps it’s useful to look at regional price parities at the metro state level.

For example, according to Bureau of Economic Analysis data, with a regional price parity of 122.2, New York, N.Y., is approximately 30 percent more expensive to live in than Utica, N.Y., which has clocks in at roughly 93.0.

Here are the 10 most expensive metro areas in the U.S.:

Image source: Becket Adams, BEA

And here are the 10 least expensive metro areas in the U.S.:

Image source: Becket Adams, BEA

So what’s the takeaway?

“As the US consumer retrenches even further, and is forced to minimize spending to previously unseen levels, we expect to see increasing migration away from America's more expensive cities,” Zero Hedge reported, adding that Americans will likely move into the areas ranked lowest on the list of expensive metro areas.

Here’s a complete list of the most to least expensive metro areas (via the Wall Street Journal):

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