2023 Cost of living index

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The Council for Community and Economic Research’s Cost of Living Index from Q3 of 2023, showed Manhattan had a cost of living twice that of the national average. Decatur, Illinois was more than 20% below the national average.

Here are the most expensive urban areas from the 2023 index:

  1. Manhattan, New York (227.8)
  2. Honolulu, Hawaii (179.2)
  3. San Jose, California (171.3)
  4. San Francisco, California (169.5)
  5. Brooklyn, New York (159.7)
  6. Orange County, California (151.2)
  7. Boston, Massachusetts (148)
  8. Los Angeles-Long Beach, California (147.3)
  9. Seattle, Washington (145.7)
  10. Washington, D.C. (145.3)

www.usatoday.com

What does cost of living mean? How we calculate the comparison for states and cities.

The cost of living is different all over the country. Many Americans point to it when they're looking to move to cheaper states.
www.usatoday.com
 
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From the Cost of Living Index Link:
The Cost of Living Index measures regional differences in the cost of consumer goods and services, excluding taxes and non-consumer expenditures, for professional and managerial households in the top income quintile. Covering 61 different items, prices are collected quarterly by chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, and university applied economic centers in each participating urban area. Small differences should not be interpreted as showing a measurable difference.

The composite index is based on six component categories – housing, utilities, grocery items, transportation, health care, and miscellaneous goods and services.

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It would be interesting to see what the list looks like without housing, not saying it should not be a factor would just be interesting to see how normalized the numbers are across the other categories and how the list changes.

Some further details about the methodology:
 
edyvw said:
The bottom ten are at the bottom for a reason. I have seen all of them except one, and lived close to three, and, no thanx.
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I have tried to push this point across to people for years. Just because housing and other expenses are cheap in an area, doesn't make it great. Years ago, I ended up in an area that is still depressed and will be for the rest of my life most likely. I moved there in the mid-90's and it was "doing ok". It was primarily a textile town, with a couple of steel joist plants, a national commercial playground equipment manufacturer, a pedestrian/golf cart bridge manufacturer, a large bakery and a few other decent niche industrial employers. About 7-8 years later, the textiles moved away almost overnight after the passage of CAFTA, the bakery was purchased by another large bread company, it was union, there was a 90-120 long, nasty strike right at that time and when the strike was over, 800+ people were unemployed. The new owners shut that plant down. It was the largest single employer in the county, a large consumer of natural gas and electricity. The textile manufacturers greatly subsidized the area residents' electricity and water.

All of the sudden, more than 8000 people in a county of 50k were unemployed. Back then, the figures were that one job supported 3.x people. This was a couple years before 2006-2008 housing crash. By 2006 in this area, you couldn't give a home away. My income had zero to do with any of these industries. My employer worked for companies outside this area. I took another job in 2006, wanted to sell my house and received zero offers in a 12 month period from 2006-2007. I think it was shown 2 times. We hung on to it for another 7 years, traveling to it and using it on most weekends. We sold it for less than $50/sf in 2014. We wrote a $3k check at the closing table to get rid of it.
 
Hillbilly Deluxe said:
I have tried to push this point across to people for years. Just because housing and other expenses are cheap in an area, doesn't make it great. Years ago, I ended up in an area that is still depressed and will be for the rest of my life most likely. I moved there in the mid-90's and it was "doing ok". It was primarily a textile town, with a couple of steel joist plants, a national commercial playground equipment manufacturer, a pedestrian/golf cart bridge manufacturer, a large bakery and a few other decent niche industrial employers. About 7-8 years later, the textiles moved away almost overnight after the passage of CAFTA, the bakery was purchased by another large bread company, it was union, there was a 90-120 long, nasty strike right at that time and when the strike was over, 800+ people were unemployed. The new owners shut that plant down. It was the largest single employer in the county, a large consumer of natural gas and electricity. The textile manufacturers greatly subsidized the area residents' electricity and water.

All of the sudden, more than 8000 people in a county of 50k were unemployed. Back then, the figures were that one job supported 3.x people. This was a couple years before 2006-2008 housing crash. By 2006 in this area, you couldn't give a home away. My income had zero to do with any of these industries. My employer worked for companies outside this area. I took another job in 2006, wanted to sell my house and received zero offers in a 12 month period from 2006-2007. I think it was shown 2 times. We hung on to it for another 7 years, traveling to it and using it on most weekends. We sold it for less than $50/sf in 2014. We wrote a $3k check at the closing table to get rid of it.
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I lived in Montgomery, AL for 8yrs. Seen A LOT of South. While some things were out of their hands, most issues stem from self-inflicted wounds.
 
Like everything else the values here are based on scarcity. IE; supply and demand.

No real surprises on this list. Demand outpacing any supply. Factor in taxes which indirectly increase cost of goods and services and there you go.
 
Hillbilly Deluxe said:
I have tried to push this point across to people for years. Just because housing and other expenses are cheap in an area, doesn't make it great.
Click to expand...

It's cheap because it isn't great or even good. If you're lucky, there's just enough employment opportunities to sustain the locals, but as your experience shows that can change quickly.
 
Hillbilly Deluxe said:
I have tried to push this point across to people for years. Just because housing and other expenses are cheap in an area, doesn't make it great. Years ago, I ended up in an area that is still depressed and will be for the rest of my life most likely. I moved there in the mid-90's and it was "doing ok". It was primarily a textile town, with a couple of steel joist plants, a national commercial playground equipment manufacturer, a pedestrian/golf cart bridge manufacturer, a large bakery and a few other decent niche industrial employers. About 7-8 years later, the textiles moved away almost overnight after the passage of CAFTA, the bakery was purchased by another large bread company, it was union, there was a 90-120 long, nasty strike right at that time and when the strike was over, 800+ people were unemployed. The new owners shut that plant down. It was the largest single employer in the county, a large consumer of natural gas and electricity. The textile manufacturers greatly subsidized the area residents' electricity and water.

All of the sudden, more than 8000 people in a county of 50k were unemployed. Back then, the figures were that one job supported 3.x people. This was a couple years before 2006-2008 housing crash. By 2006 in this area, you couldn't give a home away. My income had zero to do with any of these industries. My employer worked for companies outside this area. I took another job in 2006, wanted to sell my house and received zero offers in a 12 month period from 2006-2007. I think it was shown 2 times. We hung on to it for another 7 years, traveling to it and using it on most weekends. We sold it for less than $50/sf in 2014. We wrote a $3k check at the closing table to get rid of it.
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What city was this if you don’t mind me asking ?
 
dishdude said:
It's cheap because it isn't great or even good. If you're lucky, there's just enough employment opportunities to sustain the locals, but as your experience shows that can change quickly.
Click to expand...

Yep, very few good opportunities in a small town.

Don‘t forget needing a good doctor, dentist, hospital, schools for kids, crime, quality housing, etc…., etc….

I would not want to live in a small depressed town with meth heads and poverty.
 
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