Ingrams August 2023

DESTINATION KANSAS REASONS TO CHOOSE

SCORING BELOW NATIONAL AVERAGES IN EVERY CATEGORY, CONDITIONS IN MISSOURI ALLOW RESIDENTS TO DO MORE WITH LESS. Cost of Living

Do the math: The average for house hold expenditures in America in 2021, according to Bankrate.com, was $66,928, with housing itself accounting for a third of that—$22,624. With inflation running at levels most of us have never witnessed—that house hold spending figure was up 9.1 percent in 2021—a clear picture begins to emerge of winners and losers in the economic sweepstakes game: The regions with the lowest housing costs fare significantly better than their pricier counterparts. Welcome, then, to Missouri. It’s a place where one can live a comfortable lifestyle, even on a wage well below coast al compensation rates, thanks to a low cost of living that makes the Show-Me State one of the nation’s most affordable places to call home. In fact, only five other states have cost-of-living indicators that beat Missouri’s. Using 100 as a national average across six metrics, the index placed relative costs in Missouri at 89.1. In other words, for every $100 expended by residents na tionwide, Kansans pay $89.10, a savings of nearly 11 percent over the rest of the nation. That starts to look mighty attrac tive compared to places like Hawaii, the most expensive state and with an index of 184.0, more than twice the cost of life in Missouri. Or for somewhere less exotic, look at the nation’s capital, where the cost

OPEN SPACES | Housing prices get most of the attention, but low transportation costs for Missouri commuters and other residents help the state achieve one of the best cost-of-living profiles in the United States, and ample freeway miles make the going easy, especially outside big-city rush hour.

of living is more than half again the na tional average, with a score of 152.5. Powering that performance is hous ing, a category where Missouri is 12th, with a reading of 79.9, based on that same 100 as a national average. What’s that look like compared to other states? Well, consider Washington, D.C., the most expensive housing market in the lower 48 states. Census estimates for 2022 show that the median home value in that market is $615,692. In Mis souri? It’s about $171,800, per the Census,

or $227,347 for the typical (not average) home, according to Zillow, which may be a closer reflection of true market condi tions at the time. In either case, housing in the nation’s capital easily runs three times what the average Missouri resident can expect to pay. And the factor is more than 2x in the states of Colorado, Washington, Califor nia, and Massachusetts. Housing, though, isn’t the only factor creating that low-cost edge. Missouri also enjoys a No. 7 ranking for lowest trans

MISSOURI CITIES COST OF LIVING INDEX Even in the pricier major urban areas, the comparative affordability in the Show-Me State stands out.

$

METRO

INDEX

GROCERY

HOUSING

UTILITIES

TRANSPORT.

HEALTH

MISC.

Columbia, MO

95

99.9 92.4 95.9 97.4 91.4

86.1

95.6

99

91.8 88.5 99.2 88.9 92.9

99.5 91.2 92.5 88.2 85.2

Kansas City MO-KS Springfield, MO St. Louis MO-IL

94.9 87.4 86.3

102.4

101.6

86.4 89.1 90.3 94.1

74.5 74.1 62.5

86.2

93

Joplin, Mo

82

97.5

Missouri

89.1

95.4

79.9

94.8

91.8

92.3

91.3

16 I ngr am ’ s

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