A "standard of living" sounds like an objective or expectation which one sets personally or is set by your lifestyle or professional or personal peer group, whe

A "standard of living" sounds like an objective or expectation which one sets personally or is set by your lifestyle or professional or personal peer group, whereas "cost of living" seems more like "the minimum amount of money it takes to get by in this region." At least to my ears, that difference is why it sounded a bit odd, like "teachers need more money to support their California Lifestyle," or whatever.