The August 2026 Report
The Real Cost of Living
The federal Consumer Price Index reports inflation as a percentage. We publish the dollars behind it: what living truly costs and what income has left, every month, for every congressional district.
The one-minute version
The Short Version
This report follows seven income groups drawn from federal data. For each one, it subtracts the required monthly costs (housing, healthcare, and essential living costs) from net monthly income. What is left is the monthly margin.
On the renter track this month, seven of the seven income groups end the month behind. Select a card to look it up where you live.
Owning is cheaper, but for one person it rarely changes the ending. National averages weighted by state population, August 2026 report month. Margin = net monthly income − required obligations.
The heart of the report
Find Your Row
Every state and every congressional district is re-measured each month, for all seven income groups, on four housing paths. Pick a place and a household, and read your row.
Start with your ZIP code
Your ZIP finds your state, city, and congressional district, or pick a place by hand below.
United States · national average
Population-weighted average of the fifty statesOne adult: ends the month behind by $2,475 renting, after housing, healthcare, and essential living costs.
Level
Household
Gross / mo
$3,717
− Federal
$264
− Payroll
$284
− State
$89
= Net / mo
$3,079
Monthly margin by housing path; select one
Net monthly income
$3,079
Required obligations · renting
$5,554
Rank 1 = best margin, ranked by the average of the renter and blended-owner margins. Required obligations = housing + healthcare + essential living costs, localized. ZIP matching uses the Census ZCTA–district relationship (119th Congress); ZIPs that span districts show every option, and city names come from a public ZIP lookup. Numbers you type stay in your browser. Educational measurement, not financial advice.
Parts 1–3 of the guide
Why the Official Number Misses It
The Consumer Price Index tracks the price of a fixed “basket” of goods and services and reports how that cost changes. When you hear “inflation was 3 percent,” that number came from a CPI. Inside the basket, every category gets a weight: its share of the average surveyed household's spending.
In the published tables, rent of a primary residence carries a weight of 10.697%: a little under eleven cents of every dollar spent. But no individual household is that average. A renting household pays the full market rent out of its own pocket, and the share it takes depends entirely on income.
In one sentence
The index answers “how fast are prices rising for the average basket?” It does not answer “what share of this household's income do those prices take?” This report answers the second question.
For $1,935.42 of rent to be only 10.697% of a household's spending, that household would have to spend about $18,093 a month on everything combined. None of the seven incomes here comes close.
The basket, as the index sees it
Bureau of Labor Statistics Relative Importance tables, U.S. city average, CPI-W.
The same rent, seven very different shares of income
The national average market rent is $1,935.42 a month (Zillow Observed Rent Index: rent only, before utilities or fees). The same rent in every row; only the income changes.
One adult
$3,079 net / mo
≈ 63%
Two adults
$6,152 net / mo
≈ 31%
Median household
$5,330 net / mo
≈ 36%
Senior 65+
$4,493 net / mo
≈ 43%
Senior couple 65+
$6,577 net / mo
≈ 29%
Social Security
$2,086 net / mo
≈ 93%
Two Social Security
$3,208 net / mo
≈ 60%
An illustration of the index's structural weight, not a claim that the index sets a rent allowance, or that any payment is calculated this way. Price indexes measure a broad group's spending over time; they are not a personal budget.
Parts 5 & 7 of the guide
What Counts as Required Obligations
The essentials: housing, healthcare, and essential living costs (food, utilities, transportation, phone and internet, and the like), each updated with current prices and adjusted for local price levels. The same categories apply to every household type. These are market-price standards: current asking rent and unsubsidized benchmark premiums. They can run above what a settled household pays, and the methodology states this.
Housing · renter track
$1,935.42
Zillow Observed Rent Index (rent data © Zillow), national. Just the rent, not utilities or fees. Shared either way for two people.
Housing · homeowner track
$1,527.59
Census Selected Monthly Owner Costs: a blended line. Owners still paying a mortgage pay roughly three times what paid-off owners do.
Healthcare · matched to household
$735.50
One-person benchmark Silver marketplace premium (CMS). For the senior baselines the line is the $202.90 Medicare Part B premium, one per person.
The rest of the basket: bigger than the rent
For one adult, the essentials besides housing and health insurance come to about $2,882 a month, more than the rent itself. Shared items like utilities, phone, and internet do not double.
Food & beverages
$952
Transportation
$713
Recreation
$315
Utilities
$306
Apparel
$173
Education & communication
$140
Telephone
$123
Other goods & services
$101
Internet
$59
Essential living costs, national monthly averages, August 2026. BLS spending and price data, localized with BEA Regional Price Parities. In every row of this report the arithmetic is identical: net monthly income − required obligations = monthly margin.
Part 6 of the guide
The Margin Tables: Seven Groups, Every Path
Gross monthly income, the federal, payroll, and state tax taken out, the net income that actually arrives, then the monthly margin on four housing paths. National averages; find the row closest to your own situation and read across.
One adult
−$2,475
Two adults
−$1,964
Median household
−$959
Senior 65+
−$529
Senior couple 65+
−$474
Social Security
−$2,936
Two Social Security
−$3,843
← behind · $0 · ahead →
Reading the tables
On the renting path this month, 7 of the seven groups end the month negative. Owning at the blended cost drops the housing line by about $408 versus renting; a paid-off home drops it much further.
Where the math works
No group clears the essentials on this path this month at national averages; several states and districts still post positive margins; see the rankings below.
Known limitations
- The two-person senior and Social Security rows are constructed benchmarks under revision; corrected figures publish with a forthcoming report cycle and a corrections-log entry.
- The market-rent line is the one non-federal input, the Zillow Observed Rent Index, labeled wherever it appears.
- The basket is a market-price standard: current asking rent and unsubsidized benchmark premiums. It can run above what a settled household pays, and the methodology states this.
Part 8 & Appendices B–C
Where You Live Changes the Math
Every essential-cost category is adjusted for local price levels, and the spread between states is wide. The same subtraction runs in every one of the 435 congressional districts. Here is how many end the month negative, for each income group:
The Highest 10 and Lowest 10 Margins
Ranked by the average of the renter and blended-owner margins · renter margin shown · One adult · select any row to open it in Find Your Row
Highest 10 margins · States
Lowest 10 margins · States
Highest 10 margins · Districts
Lowest 10 margins · Districts
The Rankings: Every State, Every District
Level
Income baseline
Household size
Search
Order
Showing 50 of 50 places · One adult · August 2026
Click any row to open it in Find Your Row.
Rank 1 = best margin, by the average of the renter and blended-owner margins; the same rank applies to one-person and two-person tables. Every district is listed with its representative, every state with both senators, so any office can open its own row. Rankings are produced by the same formula for all 435 districts, never by editorial selection.
Trust and traceability
Where These Numbers Come From
Every figure can be traced to its source. Federal data does the heavy lifting; one non-federal dataset (Zillow market rent) is used only where no federal equivalent exists, and it is labeled wherever it appears.
One-adult income baseline ($3,717 gross / mo)
Census Bureau, ACS 5-year 2024 table B19301 field B19301_001E (per-capita income)
Median household income baseline ($6,850 gross / mo)
Census Bureau, ACS 5-year 2024 table B19013 field B19013_001E (median household income)
Senior household income baseline ($4,966 gross / mo)
Census Bureau, ACS 5-year 2024 table B19049 field B19049_005E (householders 65+)
Social Security baseline ($2,086 / mo)
Social Security Administration Monthly Statistical Snapshot
Tax schedules (federal, payroll, state)
Internal Revenue Service 2026 schedules; encoded 2026 state personal-income-tax schedules
Medicare Part B premium ($202.90)
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Silver benchmark premiums ($735.50 / $1,471.01)
CMS Marketplace data
Rent weight (10.697%) and owners’ equivalent rent (21.8%)
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Relative Importance tables
Market rent ($1,935.42)
Zillow Observed Rent Index: non-federal, disclosed; one month behind the report month
Owner costs ($1,527.59 blended; $2,100 / $705 by mortgage status)
Census Bureau, Selected Monthly Owner Costs
Essential living costs (food, utilities, transportation…)
BLS spending and price data, adjusted with BEA Regional Price Parities
Senior couple 65+ and Two Social Security rows
Under revision: currently doubled, not the intended two-person construction; corrected cycle forthcoming
Every federal source is pulled from its official agency portal and stamped with a cryptographic fingerprint, so the exact inputs can be re-checked later. Every published number is produced by a documented calculation, published alongside the data. Full methodology at www.truecola.org/methodology.
Published by True Cost Of Living Analysis Project, an independent research project based in West Jordan, Utah. The report is built from documented federal source data and the Zillow Observed Rent Index for current market rent, clearly labeled wherever it is used. It is an independent analytical publication, not a publication issued, reviewed, or endorsed by BLS, SSA, Zillow, or any other source agency.
True Cost Of Living Analysis Project is a nonpartisan measurement and public education organization. It does not endorse candidates, recommend legislation, or engage in lobbying, and does not provide legal, financial, tax, or Medicare plan advice. This report takes no position on any policy or program.
Data credits & disclosures
Rent data © Zillow. Market-rent figures are derived from the Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI), Zillow Group, Inc., used with attribution under Zillow's public research-data terms. ZORI is the only non-federal source in this report; it is used solely because no federal agency publishes monthly rent in dollars at this level of detail, and it is labeled wherever it appears. This site is not affiliated with or endorsed by Zillow.
Federal data. All other figures are constructed from U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Social Security Administration, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Internal Revenue Service, Bureau of Economic Analysis, and state revenue department sources. This report is not an official publication of any federal agency.
ZIP lookup. ZIP-to-district matching uses the U.S. Census Bureau ZCTA–congressional district relationship files (119th Congress); ZIP codes are postal routes, not exact boundaries, so ZIPs spanning districts show every option. City names come from the public Zippopotam.us lookup. ZIP codes and any figures you type stay in your browser and are never transmitted or stored by this site.