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Hawaii's housing index tops 300 as MERIC data show where Americans face the highest cost of living

7/17/2026

A housing cost sub-index above 300, the highest recorded in the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center's (MERIC) quarterly Cost of Living Index, anchors Hawaii at the top of the national affordability rankings.

MERIC benchmarks each state against a score of 100, the national average, tracking six categories of household spending drawn from price data collected in participating cities and metropolitan areas.

Oklahoma ranks at the opposite end as the most affordable state in the country. Hawaii and the five most expensive states Geographic isolation is the structural cost driver for Hawaii.

Building materials and consumer goods prices both run well above what other states record, and the housing sub-index above 300 captures that in a single figure. No other state posted a comparable reading.