America largely does not subsidize things like health care, child care, or education as many countries do. And for some, it’s an enormous change, much more costly than at home or with many new expenses. Upwardli can helpįor some, the cost of living in the US is a relief! It’s much lower than it was at home. Some employers pay all or part of their employee’s health insurance premiums, and if you don’t have children and aren’t in school yourself, you won’t have any educational expenses. A single person wouldn’t need to spend nearly that much. If you live in a walkable city or one with a robust public transit system, you won’t have any gas expenses, and your transportation expenses will be much lower, maybe even $0, if you walk and cycle a lot.Ī combined $808 per month for food is high unless you’re a family with a few members. And some people won’t have all of these expenses. These are some common monthly expenses in America and their average costs:ĭon’t be alarmed by that number! Remember, these are averages. That means a pencil that cost $1 in 2020 would cost $1.07 today. Inflation can happen when prices increase due to increased production costs like raw materials and wages or an increase in demand for products and services, which means consumers are willing to pay more for them.Īt the time of writing, inflation is around 7%. Inflation is a decrease in the purchasing power of our money, as reflected in a general increase in the prices of goods and services. The cost of living for any American is impacted by inflation. The average cost for a family of four is $7,095 per month, which is $85,139 per year. The average monthly living expenses for a single person in the USA are $3,189, which is $38,266 per year. Average living expenses for a single personĪgain, living expenses vary significantly by location, but we can use some average numbers. These COLs are overall and exclude certain expenses, but you can see COLs for things like food, housing, and utilities too. The linked calculator below lets you play with salary numbers and locations. This means a salary in NYC of $50,000 would be equivalent to a salary of $20,999 in Indianapolis. Let’s look at our example above of New York City between Indianapolis: You can use this information to see how far your salary will go in various places. If it’s over 100, it’s more expensive than the national average. If a place has a COL index below 100, it’s cheaper than the national average.

US cost of living indexĪ cost of living (COL) index lets you compare living costs between areas. We’ll take a look at the US cost of living index, the average cost of living in the US per year, and some common monthly expenses in the USA. The cost of living in the USA for an Indian family in New York City will be different than that of an Indian family living in Indianapolis, Indiana. The average cost of living for a family of 4 in America differs from the US average cost of living for a single person. And the average monthly cost of living in the USA varies too. Even if your home country and America have a lot of similarities, one thing is sure to be very different the cost of living.

Typical household budget