The ACCRA Cost of Living Index provides a useful and reasonably accurate measure of living cost differences among urban areas. Items on which the Index is based have been carefully chosen to reflect the different categories of consumer expenditures. Weights assigned to relative costs are based on government survey data on expenditure patterns for professional and executive households. All items are priced in each urban area at a specified time and according to standardized specifications; the Index does not measure inflation (price change over time). Also note that the Index reflects cost differentials for professional and executive households in the top income quintile.
When interpreting the data, note that the Index measures relative price levels for consumer goods and services. The average for all participating urban areas equals 100, where each urban area's index is measured as a percentage of the US average. Please see the table below for details.
Cost of Living in Various Metro Areas, 2009
Urban Area
|
All Items (100%) |
Food (12.95%) |
Housing (28.99%) |
Utilities (10.02%) |
Transpor-tation (11.98%) |
Health (4.07%) |
Misc. Goods & Services (31.99%) |
Albuquerque, NM |
96.2 |
98.2 |
89.1 |
89.1 |
96.6 |
103.3 |
103.2 |
Austin, TX |
96.5 |
91.8 |
84.2 |
90.3 |
96.9 |
94.8 |
111.7 |
Chicago, IL |
113.2 |
104.4 |
131.5 |
114.3 |
115.4 |
110.3 |
99.3 |
Colorado Springs, CO |
92.3 |
96.1 |
91.9 |
84.3 |
94.8 |
104.7 |
91.1 |
Dallas, TX |
92.1 |
96.1 |
71.2 |
107.9 |
99.3 |
104.2 |
100.2 |
Denver, CO |
102.9 |
101.4 |
107.4 |
99.3 |
94.3 |
105.3 |
103.4 |
Detroit, MI |
101.2 |
93.9 |
104.8 |
125.2 |
100.1 |
95.8 |
94.5 |
El Paso, TX |
89.7 |
100.3 |
81.7 |
89.3 |
96.8 |
95.1 |
89.3 |
Houston, TX |
89.3 |
84.8 |
76.2 |
99.1 |
95.0 |
95.9 |
96.9 |
Huntsville, AL |
92.3 |
94.5 |
79.0 |
85.8 |
99.2 |
91.6 |
103.1 |
Las Cruces, NM |
102.0 |
104.1 |
106.3 |
95.0 |
99.4 |
93.8 |
101.4 |
Los Angeles / Long Beach, CA |
141.6 |
107.6 |
229.1 |
90.7 |
114.8 |
109.4 |
106.3 |
Minneapolis, MN |
112.7 |
117.0 |
124.7 |
100.9 |
101.1 |
107.7 |
108.6 |
| New York (Manhattan), NY |
217.2 |
145.9 |
399.5 |
156.8 |
128.3 |
130.7 |
144.2 |
| Phoenix, AZ |
98.4 |
105.6 |
94.6 |
88.5 |
101.3 |
97.7 |
100.9 |
| San Antonio, TX |
95.0 |
85.0 |
94.8 |
82.2 |
98.0 |
103.7 |
101.0 |
| San Diego, CA |
133.5 |
105.8 |
201.2 |
96.0 |
114.5 |
113.1 |
104.9 |
Tucson, AZ |
99.1 |
99.8 |
95.4 |
92.6 |
101.5 |
99.0 |
103.4 |
Source: ACCRA Cost of Living Index: Annual 2009. www.C2ER.org.
Updated: March 2010.
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