Core datasets
| Source | Dataset | Vintage | What we use it for |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) | Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) | May 2025 | Median, mean and percentile wages and employment by occupation and metropolitan or nonmetropolitan area; county-to-area definitions. |
| U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) | Fair Market Rents (FMR) | FY 2027 | One- and two-bedroom rents and population by county (towns in New England). |
| Internal Revenue Service (IRS) | Statistics of Income (SOI), county data | Latest county file | County average adjusted gross income and effective federal income tax rate, shown as a cross-check. |
| U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) | State Energy Data System (SEDS) | 2024 prices | Residential electricity and natural gas prices and motor gasoline prices by state. |
| U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) | Thrifty Food Plan cost reports | Most recent month in the file | Monthly cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult, converted to a yearly figure. |
Tax rules and consumption assumptions
The tax calculation and the household consumption assumptions rest on these published references:
- Federal income tax brackets and standard deduction, tax year 2025 (IRS)
- Social Security wage base and FICA rates (Social Security Administration)
- State individual income tax rates and brackets, 2025 (Tax Foundation)
- Residential energy consumption per household (RECS 2020) (EIA)
- Average vehicle miles traveled (Highway Statistics, table VM-1) (Federal Highway Administration)
Licensing and reuse
Works of the U.S. federal government are generally in the public domain. The Tax Foundation table is cited as a reference for state tax rules; we do not republish it. The tables, text and layout of this site are our own work. If you quote our figures, please link back to the relevant page.
How current is the data?
Wages are annual estimates and reflect a May reference period. Rents, energy prices and food costs are updated by their agencies on their own schedules, and we refresh them when new files are released. Each result page states the tax year and the food-plan month it uses.
See exactly how these sources are combined on the methodology page.