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Intentional self-care involves regularly taking steps to improve or maintain your physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and social well-being. Self-care looks different for every individual, but creating a general self-care plan for yourself can quickly boost how you feel inside and out.
While some forms are free (hello, meditating), other popular indulgences require a line item in your budget. And those costs can vary a lot depending on where you live.
To find the U.S. cities with the most affordable self-care, we looked at 86 of the largest metropolitan areas and ranked them based on the following categories:
Hair cut (man’s barbershop haircut with no styling)
Beauty salon visit (woman’s shampoo, cut, and blow-dry)
Dry cleaning (man’s two-piece suit)
Movie ticket (first-run, evening showing)
Yoga session (one-hour drop-in class)
Scroll through to find the best and worst cities for self-care affordability, plus extra insights on where it costs the most and least when factoring in salary.
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1. Charlotte, North Carolina
2. McAllen, Texas
3. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
4. Kansas City, Missouri
5. Tulsa, Oklahoma
6. Augusta, Georgia
7. Indianapolis, Indiana
8. Omaha, Nebraska
9. St. Louis, Missouri
10. Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Birmingham, Alabama (tied)
Southern and Midwestern cities lead in affordability, with Charlotte, McAllen, and Oklahoma City earning the top three spots.
Coastal cities, especially Boston, Seattle, and Los Angeles, tend to be more expensive.
Some large cities are not as expensive as you think. New York, for example, ranks 74th, making it much more affordable than other large cities on the list.
Looking to relieve stress with a specific self-care technique? Here are the cities with the best and worst prices based on each category.
Cheapest Haircuts
1. Las Vegas, Nevada: $16.67
2. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: $18.40
3. Knoxville, Tennessee: $18.60
Most Expensive Haircuts
1. Seattle, Washington: $52.20
2. Boston, Massachusetts: $50.20
3. Chicago, Illinois: $48.33
Cheapest Beauty Salons
1. Augusta, Georgia: $32.50
2. Omaha, Nebraska: $34.17
3. Kansas City, Missouri: $36.50
Most Expensive Beauty Salons
1. Los Angeles, California: $98
2. Miami, Florida: $89.14
3. Seattle, Washington: $88
Cheapest Dry Cleaning
1. Memphis, Tennessee: $9.83
2. Baltimore, Maryland: $10.50
3. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: $11.49
Most Expensive Dry Cleaning
1. Sacramento, California: $28.95
2. Bakersfield, California: $28.33
3. Honolulu, Hawaii: $25.98
Cheapest Movie Tickets
1. Tulsa, Oklahoma: $9.35
2. Winston-Salem, North Carolina: $9.75
3. Des Moines, Iowa: $11.01
Most Expensive Movie Tickets
1. New York City, New York: $21.21
2. Los Angeles, California: $19.74
3. Honolulu, Hawaii: $19.03
Cheapest Yoga
1. Charlotte, North Carolina: $12.00
2. Birmingham, Alabama and Buffalo, New York (tied): $14.40
3. Wichita, Kansas: $14.75
Most Expensive Yoga
1. San Jose, California: $35.00
2. New York City, New York: $31.40
3. Honolulu, Hawaii: $31.21
We reviewed 86 cities and ranked them from most to least affordable for self-care:
1. Charlotte, North Carolina
2. McAllen, Texas
3. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
4. Kansas City, Missouri
5. Tulsa, Oklahoma
6. Augusta, Georgia
7. Indianapolis, Indiana
8. Omaha, Nebraska
9. St. Louis, Missouri
10. Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Birmingham, Alabama (tied)
12. Des Moines, Iowa, and Wichita, Kansas (tied)
14. Cleveland, Ohio and Toledo, Ohio (tied)
16. Chattanooga, Tennessee
17. El Paso, Texas
18. Winston-Salem, North Carolina
19. Charleston, South Carolina
20. Las Vegas, Nevada
21. Columbia, South Carolina
22. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
23. Columbus, Ohio
24. Jackson, Mississippi
25. Rochester, New York
26. Ogden, Utah
27. Jacksonville, Florida
28. Memphis, Tennessee
29. Dayton, Ohio
30. Deltona, Florida
31. Salt Lake City, Utah
32. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Provo, Utah (tied)
34. Knoxville, Tennessee
35. Louisville, Kentucky
36. Allentown, Pennsylvania
37. Buffalo, New Yor,k and Minneapolis, Minnesota (tied)
39. Cincinnati, Ohio
40. Detroit, Michigan, and Greenville, South Carolina (tied)
42. Tampa, Florida
43. Little Rock, Arkansas
44. San Antonio, Texas
45. Colorado Springs, Colorado, and New Orleans, Louisiana (tied)
47. Orlando, Florida
48. Syracuse, New York
49. Houston, Texas
50. Albuquerque, New Mexico
51. Boise City, Idaho
52. Fayetteville, Arkansas
53. Bakersfield, California, and Richmond, Virginia (tied)
55. Austin, Texas
56. Nashville, Tennessee
57. Atlanta, Georgia
58. Albany, New York
59. Phoenix, Arizona
60. Baltimore, Maryland
61. Denver, Colorado
62. Spokane, Washington
63. Raleigh, North Carolina
64. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
65. Cape Coral, Florida
66. Chapel Hill, North Carolina
67. New Haven, Connecticut
68. Hartford, Connecticut
69. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
70. San Francisco, California
71. Portland, Oregon
72. Chicago, Illinois
73. San Jose, California
74. New York City, New York
75. Miami, Florida
76. Honolulu, Hawaii
77. Sacramento, California
78. Dallas, Texas
79. Madison, Wisconsin, and Providence, Rhode Island (tied)
81. Washington, D.C.
82. San Diego, California
83. Bridgeport, Connecticut
84. Los Angeles, California
85. Seattle, Washington
86. Boston, Massachusetts
Beyond raw pricing, we also wanted to see how much self-care costs compare to the mean income in each city. We looked at how much it would cost to do each item monthly for a year, then ranked the cities based on the percentage of income that would take up. Here’s what we found:
1. Charlotte, North Carolina
2. San Jose, California
3. Kansas City, Missouri
4. Omaha, Nebraska
5. Augusta, Georgia
6. Denver, Colorado
7. San Francisco, California
8. Minneapolis, Minnesota
9. Cleveland, Ohio
10. Indianapolis, Indiana
1. Miami, Florida
2. Los Angeles, California
3. Dallas, Texas
4. Madison, Wisconsin
5. San Antonio, Texas
6. Cape Coral, Florida
7. Little Rock, Arkansas
8. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
9. Chicago, Illinois
10. Honolulu, Hawaii
We first found the 100 most populous metropolitan areas in the United States based on 2024 data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Then we ranked each based on the average price of goods and services using cost-of-living data from the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) for the first quarter of 2025. Fourteen cities did not have C2ER data available, bringing our total list to 86 cities.
We considered the following categories:
Hair cut
Beauty salon visit
Dry cleaning
Movie ticket
Yoga session
To determine self-care spending as part of the city’s income, we first found each city’s mean salary from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Then we added all the spending categories and multiplied that by 12 to estimate annual spending. Finally, we divided self-care spending by yearly income and multiplied that by 100 to determine the percentage of income spent on self-care for each city.
Some cities may be more self-care savvy than others, but you can develop a sound practice to improve your overall well-being regardless of your location and budget. Follow these three tips to make your self-care practice both affordable and impactful.
1. Access your holistic needs. No one practice makes a self-care routine. To feel your best, try to incorporate emotional, physical, spiritual, and financial well-being into your daily routines.
2. Choose activities within your budget. While a trip to the salon is relaxing for many people, you can find other ways to relax without spending money. Get creative with activities like journaling, a long bath, or even a social media break.
3. Build consistency in your routine. Determine what stresses you out and identify solutions based on your preferences. There’s no point in going to a yoga class if you don’t enjoy downward-facing dog. But you could go for a walk on your lunch break or make a from-scratch meal at home once a week.
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