The following 10 states have the lowest cost of living, according to The Motley Fool’s analysis of the Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator:
The Motley Fool
March 2, 2026
The Pitch from Civic Ventures
March 2, 2026
Put simply, President Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant policies have made it less likely that people from other countries want to visit here, let alone leave their tourism dollars in the States. That will affect both large corporations and their individual workers, said Heidi Shierholz, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute.
“We can see the moral and ethical reprehensibility of what is going on, and that is the first concern,” said Shierholz, a former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor. “But it is also just terrible economics.”
LAST SUMMER, THE ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE estimated that Trump’s plan to deport as many as a million immigrants per year during his term would lead not only to 3.3 million fewer employed immigrants over four years, but also to 2.6 million fewer employed U.S.-born workers—the ripple effect of a damaged job market.
The American Prospect
March 2, 2026
The act directly protects individuals by providing statutory protection to hair texture and styles such as braids, locs, twists, etc. As of 2024, 25 states have passed the CROWN Act, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
The Arizona State Press
March 2, 2026
An Economic Policy Institute analysis of Census data found that more than 50 million workers, or 35% of the working population, earn $20 or less.
MoneyWise
March 2, 2026
Kenneth acknowledged raising the minimum wage can sometimes lead to a slight reduction in hours but it is offset by the rise in hourly pay. The Economic Policy Institute has found minimum wage increases have negligible effects on employment levels.
Public News Service
March 2, 2026
Often any job loss is limited to specific sectors. Research by the Economic Policy Institute found that the surge in Chinese imports cost the U.S. 3.7 million jobs from 2001 to 2018—and about 75% of those jobs were in manufacturing.
Investopedia
March 2, 2026
“Affordability has been a big buzzword that we’ve been hearing in the news, from our president, from workers, and there’s really no policies enacted in the last year that have made life more affordable for workers,” said Economic Policy Institute senior policy analyst Margaret Poydock, who examined the strike data in a blog last week. “Prices and pay make things more affordable, and unions are a great tool to help secure wage gains and strikes are an even more effective tool.”
The American Prospect
March 2, 2026
One million fewer people enrolled in an ACA plan this year. Up to 16 million people are projected to lose health care coverage by 2034.
“The combined effect of these policies is expected to disproportionately impact lower-income, working-class, and minority communities,” the Economic Policy Institute reported.
Memphis Flyer
March 2, 2026
President Donald Trump’s economic agenda “will make ordinary families reliably poorer in the future,” according to the author of a report published Tuesday by the Economic Policy Institute.
Josh Bivens, EPI’s chief economist, said Trump’s slashing of federal spending and jobs, mass deportations, chaotic tariffs, and anti-labor policies were suppressing hiring and wages, draining household and business spending, and slowing economic growth.
Common Dreams
March 2, 2026