How these numbers are calculated
100 = the US average. Red is a heavier burden, blue a lighter one.
These layers do not share a vintage: each section states its own.
Money
MERIC's composite cost-of-living index, published as it stands.
Source: MERIC, Q1 2026 · US average = 100
- A composite index is one national basket. It does not know your rent, your commute, or whether you own your home.
- These values were transcribed from a published reproduction of MERIC's table, not pulled from MERIC directly. The pipeline that verifies them at the source has not shipped yet.
Work hours
The Money index divided by the state's average hourly wage as a share of the US average ($37.41/hr). A 40-hour US-average week costs 40 × index ÷ 100 hours here.
Source: MERIC, Q1 2026 + BLS CES, April 2026 · US average = 100
- BLS state average hourly earnings is a mean across all private employees, not a median. States with a fat top tail — DC especially — look cheaper in hours than a typical earner will find them.
Psych
The share of adults who report 14 or more bad mental-health days in the past 30, divided by the US rate of 15.6%.
Source: CDC BRFSS, 2024 · US average = 100
- Distress tracks people, not places. BRFSS distress correlates with income, insurance and disability. A high earner moving to Arkansas does not inherit its 19.9%.
- Tennessee is missing from the source, so it has no Psych score.