Cost of Living API

Overview

To use Cost of Living, you need an API key. You can get one by creating a free account and visiting your dashboard.

GET Endpoint

https://api.apiverve.com/v1/costliving

Example

How to call the Cost of Living API in different programming languages.

curl -X GET \
  "https://api.apiverve.com/v1/costliving?location=California" \
  -H "X-API-Key: your_api_key_here"

const response = await fetch('https://api.apiverve.com/v1/costliving?location=California', {
  method: 'GET',
  headers: {
    'X-API-Key': 'your_api_key_here',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  }
});

const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

import requests

headers = {
    'X-API-Key': 'your_api_key_here',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
}

response = requests.get('https://api.apiverve.com/v1/costliving?location=California', headers=headers)

data = response.json()
print(data)

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "io"
    "net/http"

)

func main() {
    req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", "https://api.apiverve.com/v1/costliving?location=California", nil)

    req.Header.Set("X-API-Key", "your_api_key_here")
    req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")

    client := &http.Client{}
    resp, err := client.Do(req)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    defer resp.Body.Close()

    body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
    fmt.Println(string(body))
}

{
  "status": "ok",
  "error": null,
  "data": {
    "from": {
      "searchedLocation": "California",
      "region": "west-large",
      "regionName": "West Large Metros (LA, SF, Seattle, Phoenix, Denver area)",
      "costIndex": 118
    },
    "to": {
      "searchedLocation": "Texas",
      "region": "south-large",
      "regionName": "South Large Metros (Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Miami, DC area)",
      "costIndex": 103
    },
    "comparison": {
      "costDifference": -12.7,
      "direction": "less expensive",
      "salaryEquivalent": {
        "description": "A $100,000 salary in California is equivalent to $87,288 in Texas",
        "fromSalary": 100000,
        "equivalentSalary": 87288
      }
    }
  }
}

Authentication

The Cost of Living API requires authentication via API key. Include your API key in the request header:

X-API-Key: your_api_key_here

Learn more about authentication →

Interactive API Playground

Test the Cost of Living API directly in your browser with live requests and responses.

Parameters

The Cost of Living API supports multiple query options. Use one of the following:

Response

The Cost of Living API returns responses in JSON, XML, YAML, and CSV formats. The JSON response is shown in the Example section above; alternative formats below.

Other Response Formats

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<response>
  <status>ok</status>
  <error xsi:nil="true" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"/>
  <data>
    <from>
      <searchedLocation>California</searchedLocation>
      <region>west-large</region>
      <regionName>West Large Metros (LA, SF, Seattle, Phoenix, Denver area)</regionName>
      <costIndex>118</costIndex>
    </from>
    <to>
      <searchedLocation>Texas</searchedLocation>
      <region>south-large</region>
      <regionName>South Large Metros (Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Miami, DC area)</regionName>
      <costIndex>103</costIndex>
    </to>
    <comparison>
      <costDifference>-12.7</costDifference>
      <direction>less expensive</direction>
      <salaryEquivalent>
        <description>A $100,000 salary in California is equivalent to $87,288 in Texas</description>
        <fromSalary>100000</fromSalary>
        <equivalentSalary>87288</equivalentSalary>
      </salaryEquivalent>
    </comparison>
  </data>
</response>

status: ok
error: null
data:
  from:
    searchedLocation: California
    region: west-large
    regionName: West Large Metros (LA, SF, Seattle, Phoenix, Denver area)
    costIndex: 118
  to:
    searchedLocation: Texas
    region: south-large
    regionName: South Large Metros (Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Miami, DC area)
    costIndex: 103
  comparison:
    costDifference: -12.7
    direction: less expensive
    salaryEquivalent:
      description: A $100,000 salary in California is equivalent to $87,288 in Texas
      fromSalary: 100000
      equivalentSalary: 87288

Response Structure

All API responses follow a consistent structure with the following fields:

Learn more about response formats →

Response Data Fields

When the request is successful, the data object contains the following fields:

Headers

Only X-API-Key is required. Optional headers include Accept for response format negotiation (JSON, XML, or YAML), User-Agent, and X-Request-ID for request tracing. See all request headers →

GraphQL AccessALPHA

Access Cost of Living through GraphQL to combine it with other API calls in a single request. Query only the cost of living data you need with precise field selection, and orchestrate complex data fetching workflows.

Credit Cost: Each API called in your GraphQL query consumes its standard credit cost.

POST https://api.apiverve.com/v1/graphql

query {
  costliving(
    input: {
      location: "California"
    }
  ) {
    from {
      searchedLocation
      region
      regionName
      costIndex
    }
    to {
      searchedLocation
      region
      regionName
      costIndex
    }
    comparison {
      costDifference
      direction
      salaryEquivalent {
        description
        fromSalary
        equivalentSalary
      }
    }
  }
}

Note: Authentication is handled via the x-api-key header in your GraphQL request, not as a query parameter.

CORS Support

The Cost of Living API accepts cross-origin requests from any origin, so it can be called directly from browser-based applications without a proxy. See CORS support →

Rate Limiting

Cost of Living requests are throttled per minute on the Free plan and unthrottled on paid plans. Exceeding the limit returns 429 Too Many Requests; rate-limit usage is reported in the X-RateLimit-Limit, X-RateLimit-Remaining, and X-RateLimit-Reset response headers. See per-plan limits and best practices →

Error Codes

The Cost of Living API uses standard HTTP status codes — 200 on success, 400 for invalid parameters, 401 for missing or invalid keys, 403 for insufficient credits, 429 for rate-limit exhaustion, and 500/503 for server-side issues. Each error response includes an X-Request-ID header you can quote when contacting support. See full error handling guide →

SDKs for Cost of Living

Official Cost of Living packages on npm, PyPI, NuGet, and JitPack — plus a Postman collection and an OpenAPI spec. See the SDK guide →

JitPack

No-Code Integrations

Cost of Living works with Zapier, Make, Pipedream, n8n, and Power Automate using the same API key. See setup guides →

Zapier

Make

Pipedream

n8n

Power Automate

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