Cost of Living
Data and tools
- Consumer Price Index
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics - How to Use the Consumer Price Index for Escalation
How-To Guide - Calculate inflation over time
Allows you to calculate what a salary in a given year would have to be today to maintain the same buying power - Compare cost of living between cities
Lets you choose a salary level and two cities and calculates the salary needed to afford a comparable living standard
Which data should I use?
- Should I use monthly CPI figures or annual averages?
Calculating annual inflation for a specific month (for example, from December to December) gives you more recent data, but using annual averages smooths out the volatility that can occur in monthly CPI data. - Should I use seasonally adjusted or unadjusted data?
BLS advises using unadjusted CPI data for escalation clauses - National, regional and city CPI measures:
BLS advises using national or regional CPIs for escalator clauses instead of city-specific CPI
What is a Living Wage In My Area?
Calculators
- Family Budget Calculator
From the Economic Policy Institute - Living Wage Calculator
From the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Compensation data
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Wage Data by Area and Occupation
For over 800 occupations, the 50 states and 375 metropolitan areas as well as non-metropolitan areas - Employee Benefits Survey
Data on the prevalence of benefits and features of selected benefit plans
Other Economic Statistics
U.S. Census Bureau
- Data for States and Local Communities
From Census QuickFacts - Quarterly Survey of Public Pensions
From Census - Government Employment
Includes data on federal, state and local employment and payrolls
More resources
- Employment and Unemployment Rates and Trends
From the Bureau of Labor Statistics - Cornell Industrial & Labor Relations Guide
Guide to statistical sources - Moody’s economic data and forecasts
For the U.S., states and metropolitan areas, including employment growth, personal income, retail sales, CPI and more. Contact the Research Department at 202-429-1215 or research@afscme.org.
Current CPI and unemployment rate
Consumer Price Index (CPI-U)
Unchanged
The Consumer Price Index was unchanged in January. Over the last 12 months, the all items index rose 1.6 percent before seasonal adjustment.
Next release: March 12, 2019
Unemployment rate
3.8% in May 2018
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 304,000 in January, and the unemployment rate edged up to 4.0 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Job gains occurred in leisure
and hospitality, construction, health care, and transportation and warehousing.
Since their peaks in August 2008 (state) and July 2008 (local), state and local government employment remains down 334,000 jobs: 131,000 in state government and 203,000 in local government.
Next release: March 8, 2019
