In the 1st quarter of 2002, Missouri had the 7th
lowest cost of living in the United States (of the 45 states and the
District of Columbia surveyed by ACCRA). In general, the most
expensive areas to live are New England, Alaska, and the West Coast.
The least expensive areas continue to be the Midwest and Southern
States.
Missouri moved up four spots in the rankings since the 4th
quarter of 2001 when it had the 11th lowest cost of
living. The cost of living index for Missouri decreased to 92.2 from
94.3. The Health Care category had the greatest decline while the
largest increase was in the Transportation category.
Missouri's larger metropolitan areas had COL indices that were
close to the national average in the 1st quarter, but no
city had an index over 100. St. Louis was just under the national
average at 99.9. In general, the metropolitan areas are the most
expensive areas in Missouri to reside. (Kansas City did not
participate in the 1st quarter survey.)
Chambers of commerce in cities across the nation participate in
ACCRA's survey on a volunteer basis. No cities in HI, ME, NH, RI, or
VT participated last quarter.
| 1st Quarter 2002 Cost of Living Figures | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Rank | Composite Index | Grocery Items | Health Care | Housing | Misc. Goods and Services | Transportation | Utilities |
| AK | 42 | 124.9 | 131.8 | 152.2 | 121.2 | 116.8 | 132.6 | 131.1 |
| AL | 4 | 91.5 | 92.5 | 83.9 | 82.0 | 98.6 | 97.4 | 90.7 |
| AR | 1 | 89.7 | 92.0 | 87.9 | 78.9 | 94.7 | 95.2 | 96.8 |
| AZ | 26 | 98.2 | 101.3 | 106.9 | 92.0 | 95.5 | 105.2 | 111.0 |
| CA | 40 | 119.7 | 114.4 | 123.1 | 143.2 | 106.1 | 107.4 | 117.1 |
| CO | 36 | 103.9 | 106.0 | 108.9 | 106.9 | 99.9 | 104.1 | 102.5 |
| CT | 43 | 126.2 | 112.8 | 128.3 | 164.6 | 103.2 | 110.9 | 131.7 |
| DC | 44 | 132.3 | 128.6 | 125.5 | 157.7 | 120.0 | 125.6 | 114.1 |
| DE | 34 | 103.7 | 111.0 | 104.5 | 103.4 | 96.9 | 100.9 | 121.3 |
| FL | 27 | 98.9 | 100.3 | 97.2 | 92.1 | 102.4 | 102.6 | 101.3 |
| GA | 11 | 93.9 | 97.6 | 92.5 | 85.3 | 99.9 | 92.3 | 94.6 |
| IA | 18 | 95.3 | 89.6 | 90.9 | 94.8 | 97.8 | 98.9 | 95.7 |
| ID | 15 | 94.4 | 90.8 | 96.9 | 87.7 | 99.6 | 98.3 | 97.1 |
| IL | 32 | 102.2 | 98.8 | 98.9 | 107.7 | 99.7 | 106.5 | 96.5 |
| IN | 9 | 93.8 | 92.3 | 94.6 | 91.4 | 96.8 | 95.4 | 89.9 |
| KS | 17 | 95.1 | 96.3 | 89.8 | 90.1 | 97.5 | 96.6 | 101.3 |
| KY | 8 | 92.5 | 95.8 | 88.1 | 86.0 | 97.6 | 92.0 | 91.4 |
| LA | 19 | 96.0 | 95.0 | 91.6 | 93.6 | 99.3 | 97.6 | 93.9 |
| MA | 45 | 140.0 | 117.7 | 153.2 | 180.0 | 115.0 | 114.1 | 171.7 |
| MD | 12 | 93.9 | 89.4 | 92.2 | 88.7 | 97.2 | 99.1 | 102.3 |
| MI | 28 | 99.1 | 103.7 | 95.2 | 104.4 | 97.5 | 96.9 | 83.6 |
| MN | 37 | 104.4 | 102.2 | 112.1 | 99.7 | 106.7 | 115.5 | 96.5 |
| MO | 7 | 92.2 | 92.3 | 94.1 | 86.1 | 97.3 | 93.3 | 89.9 |
| MS | 10 | 93.8 | 93.7 | 90.0 | 87.4 | 99.9 | 89.8 | 99.0 |
| MT | 22 | 96.5 | 109.1 | 96.3 | 90.2 | 96.6 | 96.7 | 92.7 |
| NC | 21 | 96.4 | 99.2 | 92.6 | 96.0 | 97.3 | 93.9 | 93.4 |
| ND | 3 | 90.9 | 98.7 | 80.2 | 83.6 | 95.5 | 96.1 | 81.9 |
| NE | 13 | 94.2 | 98.1 | 90.1 | 86.5 | 98.7 | 98.9 | 91.4 |
| NJ | 46 | 145.3 | 118.3 | 155.0 | 212.8 | 113.9 | 108.2 | 132.5 |
| NM | 39 | 105.3 | 103.5 | 105.7 | 112.9 | 102.1 | 106.2 | 93.9 |
| NV | 35 | 103.9 | 103.9 | 105.0 | 98.5 | 102.0 | 110.3 | 122.1 |
| NY | 41 | 122.9 | 111.9 | 116.3 | 147.6 | 108.8 | 109.7 | 137.8 |
| OH | 20 | 96.3 | 102.0 | 94.3 | 86.5 | 98.4 | 96.6 | 111.8 |
| OK | 5 | 91.7 | 93.9 | 90.8 | 81.9 | 97.4 | 93.1 | 96.5 |
| OR | 38 | 104.6 | 107.5 | 117.2 | 101.3 | 105.1 | 105.7 | 98.8 |
| PA | 30 | 101.3 | 97.9 | 88.0 | 100.0 | 102.2 | 104.6 | 112.5 |
| SC | 24 | 97.2 | 100.1 | 96.3 | 94.1 | 98.7 | 94.8 | 99.6 |
| SD | 23 | 97.2 | 94.7 | 94.1 | 92.7 | 104.5 | 101.4 | 83.9 |
| TN | 2 | 89.7 | 94.4 | 84.9 | 81.2 | 95.8 | 93.9 | 83.1 |
| TX | 6 | 92.1 | 89.5 | 97.4 | 83.8 | 96.3 | 97.4 | 98.8 |
| UT | 14 | 94.3 | 109.1 | 92.0 | 79.4 | 100.7 | 99.5 | 85.3 |
| VA | 33 | 103.6 | 101.4 | 103.5 | 105.9 | 102.9 | 101.1 | 105.7 |
| WA | 31 | 101.4 | 110.8 | 121.7 | 98.3 | 101.7 | 98.1 | 83.6 |
| WI | 25 | 97.6 | 94.1 | 102.4 | 96.6 | 98.3 | 101.2 | 97.5 |
| WV | 16 | 94.9 | 102.4 | 94.6 | 87.4 | 98.8 | 102.0 | 82.1 |
| WY | 29 | 100.2 | 106.0 | 95.0 | 101.8 | 98.9 | 95.5 | 97.9 |
| Cost of Living Indices for Participating Missouri Cities 1st Quarter 2002 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City | Composite | Grocery Items | Housing | Utilities | Transportation | Health Care | MISC |
| Columbia | 98.5 | 96.5 | 98.7 | 94.1 | 97.8 | 93.3 | 101.3 |
| Jefferson City | 89.9 | 89.4 | 76.5 | 90.1 | 97.1 | 87.9 | 99.5 |
| Joplin | 86.4 | 88.4 | 77.5 | 93.5 | 81.2 | 96.4 | 91.4 |
| Nevada | 86.9 | 88.2 | 85.4 | 84.3 | 75.4 | 84.6 | 92.2 |
| Springfield | 90.1 | 96.7 | 82.4 | 74.2 | 98.7 | 97.0 | 93.7 |
| St. Joseph | 93.8 | 94.0 | 86.2 | 86.8 | 97.1 | 93.6 | 100.8 |
| St. Louis | 99.9 | 92.9 | 96.0 | 106.2 | 105.5 | 105.9 | 102.5 |
| Missouri | 92.2 | 92.3 | 94.1 | 86.1 | 97.3 | 93.3 | 89.9 |
| US Average | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
