In Honolulu, health care costs 8.69% of median monthly income, 15th highest in USA.  And most of the top 15 cities have substantially lower median incomes.

Cities Where People Spend the Most & Least on Health Care

from WalletHub,Dec 15, 2025

Staying healthy has continued to grow more and more expensive in the U.S., with the consumer price index for medical care increasing by over 11.8% just in the last five years.

To determine where people are spending the greatest percentage of their earnings on health care, WalletHub analyzed the prices of five key health care components in 100 of the largest U.S. cities, then added these costs together and compared them to the median household income.

“As health care gets increasingly more expensive, more and more people find themselves struggling to afford essential services and medicines. While some cities have lower prices than others, the average income in many places still may not be enough to keep up with the costs, especially when consumers have also faced inflated prices across all other facets of their budgets over the past few years.” -- Chip Lupo, WalletHub Writer and Analyst

Knowing how to budget well can help you ensure that you have enough money set aside for future health care costs. One of the most important things to do while budgeting is to build an emergency fund that can cover three to six months (or more) of your expenses, which can help you minimize the amount of debt you need to take on if you’re suddenly hit with an expensive medical bill. Regardless of how good you are at budgeting, though, some people will need to pay more for health care than others just because of the city in which they live.

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