Friday, April 19, 2019

US Cost of Living by State 2018


By missourieconomy.org. 2018.

The list below shows US States ranked by cost of living index and housing costs. Hawaii is the most expensive State with an overall cost of living index at 190.1 and the cost of housing at 311.0.

State – Index - Housing

Hawaii 190.1 – 311.0
District of Columbia 162.9 – 268.2
California 138.7 – 196.1
New York 135.7 – 197.1
Massachusetts 133.8 – 174.4
Maryland 131.3 – 189.4
Oregon 131.2 – 182.2
Alaska 130.6 – 138.1
Connecticut 128.8 – 155.4
Rhode Island 122.5 – 142.1
New Jersey 122.5 – 155.0
Vermont 118.7 – 144.1
Maine 117.2 – 125.4
Washington 109.5 – 114.4
New Hampshire 109.3 – 106.9
Nevada 108.3 – 119.2
Delaware 106.0 – 101.4
Colorado 105.5 – 120.7
Montana 104.0 – 110.5
Virginia 102.0 – 111.9
Minnesota 101.5 – 89.4
Florida 98.9 – 96.1
North Dakota 98.7 – 94.4
Pennsylvania 98.6 – 93.1
South Dakota 98.5 – 100.5
South Carolina 98.3 – 87.4
Utah 98.2 – 95.0
Arizona 97.7 – 95.6
Wisconsin 95.8 – 88.8
Illinois 95.7 – 88.2
West Virginia 94.7 – 88.6
Idaho 94.2 – 86.9
North Carolina 94.0 – 83.0
Louisiana 93.6 – 86.8
Nebraska 93.3 – 88.4
Ohio 92.8 – 77.2
New Mexico 92.8 – 84.1
Kentucky 91.8 – 80.9
Iowa 91.8 – 80.3
Texas 91.3 – 84.3
Georgia 91.2 – 76.8
Wyoming 90.5 – 79.8
Indiana 90.5 – 79.8
Kansas 89.7 – 76.5
Tennessee 89.5 – 80.3
Alabama 89.5 – 72.4
Michigan 89.3 – 78.0
Missouri 88.8 – 73.5
Arkansas 88.4 – 76.4
Oklahoma 88.1 – 74.6
Mississippi 85.7 – 70.8

The Index covers the cost of housing, groceries, transportation, utilities, healthcare and miscellaneous expenses. The high cost States are often the high tax states. I was proud to see my home States of Missouri, Kansas and Georgia tanked with the least expensive States.  I can highly recommend these States for economic development from my experience in St. Louis MO and Salina KS and my familiarity with rural Georgia and South Atlanta Metro where manufacturing jobs are needed. I live in North Atlanta Metro and we need to solve our traffic gridlock problems before we add more development. St. Louis has the best road and highway systems in the US and Salina Kansas has the best manufacturing workforce. Atlanta has the best location for transport to markets and a moderate winter.


Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

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