Ingrams August 2023

portation costs, No. 8 for health costs, No. 12 for grocery costs, No. 20 for utility costs, and near rock bottom at No. 4 for miscellaneous-item costs. In the miscellaneous category, for ex penses that don’t fit into those metrics, only Oklahoma fares better than Mis souri’s score of 91.3. Grocery costs (95.4 compared to 100) are held in check by virtue of living where a lot of the nation’s protein chain originates—cattle ranching, meat-packing, pork processing, poultry farms, and pro

cessors—all have major operations in Mis souri. Fresh avocados for your toast? Not so much, but with the savings on dietary pillars, there’s plenty left over to splurge. Transportation costs overall (91.86 vs. 100) are comparatively low because people here tend to live near their work. It’s a measure of how spoiled Missourians are that, in the urban centers, a 20-min ute commute in these parts and the gallon of gas consumed are considered imposi tions. But compare that to day-killing and pricey commuter rail options in the east

and the often-insufferable highway condi tions in the west. All of this makes a difference in vari ous ways. For businesses, it means the ability to acquire high-level talent at a significant discount. That’s a serious com petitive advantage right there, especially for law or accounting firms that also have coastal-market operations. For workers, it means enjoying a higher standard of living within a lower tax bracket, com pounding the savings from a low-cost en vironment.

COST OF LIVING BY STATE Missouri boasts eye-catching cost of living factors, driven by low costs for housing.

$

RANK

STATE

INDEX

GROCERY

HOUSING

UTILITIES

TRANSPORTATION

HEALTH CARE

MISC.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Mississippi Oklahoma

85

92.4 93.7 93.7 97.6 94.6 95.4 99.5 93.7 98.7 94.4 92.7 97.4 91.6 90.3 103.2 99

67.4 70.2 71.1 69.6 75.6 79.9 71.5 77.4 68.8 81.7 77.9 75.3 81.1 84.7 82.4 86.7 88.4 81.6 92.9 77.3 85.3 90.7 84.7 88.1 83 82 90

89

91.9 90.9 95.6 89.9 89.8 91.8 95.8 90.5 91.9 96.5 98.9 98.7 92.4 97.8 105.8 94 111.2

97.7 91.2

91.6 90.4 91.6

85.8 87.5 88.1 88.6 89.1 89.2 89.9 90.2 90.6 91.9 91.9 92.2 92.5 92.5 92.6 93.6 94.3 94.5 94.9 95.5 95.7 97.1 97.5 98.2 99.6 90 94

95.1

Kansas Alabama Georgia Missouri

98

100.4 89.6 94.6 92.3 100 95.5 101.8

100.7 90.3 94.8 93.7 104 94.4 93.8 97.5 94.3 87.1 98.9 102.7

95

95.1 91.3 94.8 92.9 95.3 94.2 99.3 99.9 94.8 97.5 96.9 96.9 94.5 97.5 95.6 98.2 92.9 106.7

Iowa

Indiana

West Virginia Tennessee

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51

89.9

Arkansas

82

Ohio

97.6

Nebraska Michigan

103.4

97.5 94.8

Texas

Wyoming

82.5 92.7 87.3 89.6

96

Illinois

98.5 97.4 98.6

98.4

Louisiana New Mexico South Carolina South Dakota

96.6 98.6 90.9 92.3

100.7 100.9

100.3 104.3

110.6

95.8 94.6

89.8

Kentucky Wisconsin

93.5 97.5 97.7

106.1 103.4 95.3 98.7 97.3 80.6 92.3 99.5 94.6 91.1 84.3 94.3 108.9 101.3 100.4 108.1 124.7 122.3 114.4 130.3 106.7 106.7 146.2 124.5 124.8 112.6 141.4 99.5 88.4 105

105.3

79

95.2

116.8 109.1 113.8 112.3 96.4 93.1 91.9 97.3 96.4 97.1 105 95.2 95.1 103.9 96 103.4 120.6 100.6 110.1 130.6 104.8 104.2 154.4 104.1 110.5 119.8 87.7

97.9

North Carolina North Dakota

91 99

99

102.4 100.7 104.6

96.8 104 99.4 99.4

Minnesota

99.4

Pennsylvania

104.7 112.6

Idaho Utah

96.3

104.8 107.9 110.2 108.5 115.5 119.8 117.6 105.3 120.6 131.8 117.9 132.3 109.7 125.5 147.5 121.3 193.9 193.8 223.8 251.5 313.5 126 125 164

102.8 102.8 102.8 103.2 104.6 104.8 105.6 105.8 112.4 112.9 114.2 115.3 115.9 116.1 116.8 121.2 126.6 134.5 137.6 149.7 124

100.2

108 95.9 98.7

102.9 102.3

Virginia Florida Nevada Colorado Montana Delaware Arizona

96.1

105.4 104.2 100.9 105.3 101.5 106.2 108.5 103.4 106.2 105.3 107.9 111.4 134.1 112.3 115.2 109.3 150.1 95.3 98.4 103 114

99.2 92.7

115.2 101.7 106.8 114.6 101.3 106.6 109.4 114.1 118.1 118.3 106.9 109.8 132.4 103.1 129.1 128.1 108.5 125.7 118 109

101.9 102.1 106.9 104.3 114.7 113.1 116.9 105.3 127.2 115.8 111.7 120.4 115.7 110.9 121.1 118.8 127.5 99.6 109

New Jersey Rhode Island Washington

Maine

Vermont

New Hampshire

Connecticut

Oregon

Maryland

Alaska

New York California

Massachusetts

District of Columbia 152.2

99.1

Hawaii

184 100

118.1

U.S.

100

100

100

100

100

100

Source: Missouri Economic Research and Information Center

17

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