CI TacoIndexAffordability, in tacos
A consumer affordability index

How many tacos does your time buy?

TacoIndex.com ranks 33 U.S. cities by taco affordability — the number of tacos one hour of local work buys, using BLS median hourly wages and per-city taco prices.

See the rankings Read the methodology
33Cities
$2.77National avg taco price
$25.52National median hourly wage
9.3National avg tacos / hour

The taco affordability map

All 33 cities, plotted geographically. Dot color tracks tacos per hour at the local median wage — deeper rust is more affordable. Click any city for details.

Alabama Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Atlanta, GA — 9.6 tacos/hour (rank #14 of 33) Atlanta9.6 Austin, TX — 10.5 tacos/hour (rank #3 of 33) Austin10.5 Boston, MA — 9.0 tacos/hour (rank #22 of 33) Boston9.0 Charlotte, NC — 9.4 tacos/hour (rank #18 of 33) Charlotte9.4 Chicago, IL — 8.7 tacos/hour (rank #26 of 33) Chicago8.7 Dallas, TX — 10.5 tacos/hour (rank #4 of 33) Dallas10.5 Denver, CO — 9.0 tacos/hour (rank #23 of 33) Denver9.0 Detroit, MI — 9.8 tacos/hour (rank #9 of 33) Detroit9.8 Houston, TX — 10.3 tacos/hour (rank #6 of 33) Houston10.3 Jacksonville, FL — 7.5 tacos/hour (rank #31 of 33) Jacksonville7.5 Kansas City, MO — 9.8 tacos/hour (rank #10 of 33) Kansas City9.8 Las Vegas, NV — 8.3 tacos/hour (rank #28 of 33) Las Vegas8.3 Los Angeles, CA — 7.3 tacos/hour (rank #32 of 33) Los Angeles7.3 Memphis, TN — 10.2 tacos/hour (rank #7 of 33) Memphis10.2 Miami, FL — 8.4 tacos/hour (rank #27 of 33) Miami8.4 Milwaukee, WI — 10.9 tacos/hour (rank #2 of 33) Milwaukee10.9 Minneapolis, MN — 11.1 tacos/hour (rank #1 of 33) Minneapolis11.1 Nashville, TN — 9.6 tacos/hour (rank #15 of 33) Nashville9.6 New York City, NY — 7.1 tacos/hour (rank #33 of 33) New York City7.1 Oklahoma City, OK — 9.7 tacos/hour (rank #11 of 33) Oklahoma City9.7 Orlando, FL — 9.7 tacos/hour (rank #12 of 33) Orlando9.7 Philadelphia, PA — 8.1 tacos/hour (rank #30 of 33) Philadelphia8.1 Phoenix, AZ — 9.6 tacos/hour (rank #16 of 33) Phoenix9.6 Portland, OR — 8.3 tacos/hour (rank #29 of 33) Portland8.3 Raleigh, NC — 9.1 tacos/hour (rank #20 of 33) Raleigh9.1 Sacramento, CA — 9.4 tacos/hour (rank #19 of 33) Sacramento9.4 San Antonio, TX — 9.7 tacos/hour (rank #13 of 33) San Antonio9.7 San Diego, CA — 9.1 tacos/hour (rank #21 of 33) San Diego9.1 San Francisco, CA — 8.8 tacos/hour (rank #25 of 33) San Francisco8.8 Seattle, WA — 10.1 tacos/hour (rank #8 of 33) Seattle10.1 St. Louis, MO — 9.0 tacos/hour (rank #24 of 33) St. Louis9.0 Tampa, FL — 9.6 tacos/hour (rank #17 of 33) Tampa9.6 Washington, DC — 10.5 tacos/hour (rank #5 of 33) Washington10.5
Fewer tacos / hour More tacos / hour

Most affordable cities

Tacos per hour of work at the local median wage. Higher is more affordable.

1Minneapolis, MN 11.1tacos / hour 2Milwaukee, WI 10.9tacos / hour 3Austin, TX 10.5tacos / hour 4Dallas, TX 10.5tacos / hour 5Washington, DC 10.5tacos / hour 6Houston, TX 10.3tacos / hour

Least affordable cities

Fewer tacos per hour at the local median wage.

33New York City, NY 7.1tacos / hour 32Los Angeles, CA 7.3tacos / hour 31Jacksonville, FL 7.5tacos / hour 30Philadelphia, PA 8.1tacos / hour 29Portland, OR 8.3tacos / hour 28Las Vegas, NV 8.3tacos / hour

What this measures

TacoIndex computes taco affordability as local median hourly wage divided by the average price of a taco in that city. A higher number means an hour of local work buys more tacos.

This is the same idea as the Big Mac Index — a single, recognizable consumer good used as a benchmark for purchasing power — but applied across U.S. metros at the city level rather than across countries.

How the numbers are built

Wages come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2024), using the median hourly wage for all occupations at the MSA level.

Taco prices are an average of a representative fast-casual taqueria price and the local Taco Bell crunchy taco price, anchored on per-city research and spot-verified against major-metro chain menus.

Full methodology →

Scope note. TacoIndex.com is an independent affordability research project, not an inflation gauge or commercial price feed. Taco prices vary by neighborhood, tortilla, and protein; the per-city values published here are representative midpoints, not market quotations. See the methodology for limitations and per-city caveats.