In the fourth quarter of 2009, Missouri had the 9th lowest cost of living in the United States. In general, the most expensive areas to live are New England, Alaska, Hawaii, and the West Coast. The least expensive areas continue to be the Midwest and Southern States.
MERIC derives the cost of living index for each state by averaging the indices of participating cities and metropolitan areas in that state. Missouri’s cost of living for the fourth quarter of 2009 was 91.2.
Cities across the nation participate in ACCRA's survey on a volunteer basis. Price information in the survey is governed by ACCRA collection guidelines which strive for uniformity.
Composite Cost of Living (Scaled)
4th Quarter 2009
| 4th Quarter 2009 Cost of Living Figures | ||||||||
| GROCERY | HEALTH | MISC | ||||||
STATE |
RANK |
INDEX |
ITEMS |
HOUSING |
UTILITIES |
TRANSPORTATION |
CARE |
SERVICES |
| Oklahoma | 1 | 88.2 | 95.2 | 75.9 | 86.2 | 93.1 | 95.6 | 94.5 |
| Tennessee | 2 | 89.0 | 92.3 | 77.2 | 90.5 | 92.1 | 92.3 | 96.3 |
| Arkansas | 3 | 90.0 | 94.3 | 78.5 | 94.3 | 92.3 | 90.9 | 96.4 |
| Kentucky | 4 | 90.5 | 88.9 | 80.2 | 99.5 | 98.5 | 93.5 | 94.4 |
| Kansas | 5 | 90.9 | 91.6 | 85.9 | 84.3 | 94.4 | 91.6 | 95.6 |
| Nebraska | 6 | 90.9 | 96.2 | 84.6 | 98.7 | 94.6 | 89.0 | 90.9 |
| South Dakota | 7 | 90.9 | 92.4 | 83.3 | 83.9 | 88.8 | 99.3 | 99.2 |
| Texas | 8 | 91.0 | 90.1 | 80.1 | 100.7 | 95.8 | 96.4 | 95.6 |
| Missouri | 9 | 91.2 | 94.3 | 80.6 | 91.8 | 92.4 | 95.4 | 98.5 |
| Georgia | 10 | 91.3 | 101.8 | 79.6 | 88.2 | 95.8 | 98.4 | 96.0 |
| Alabama | 11 | 91.9 | 99.2 | 79.1 | 99.1 | 95.0 | 88.3 | 97.6 |
| Idaho | 12 | 92.0 | 94.9 | 80.8 | 96.8 | 100.9 | 97.7 | 95.4 |
| Indiana | 13 | 92.1 | 91.8 | 83.4 | 100.8 | 100.1 | 97.1 | 93.6 |
| Mississippi | 14 | 92.6 | 95.3 | 80.7 | 105.0 | 95.7 | 94.6 | 97.1 |
| Ohio | 15 | 93.2 | 97.3 | 79.3 | 111.1 | 101.3 | 95.0 | 95.4 |
| Iowa | 16 | 93.4 | 92.6 | 88.4 | 89.4 | 99.3 | 95.4 | 97.1 |
| West Virginia | 17 | 93.7 | 92.8 | 93.5 | 91.3 | 102.6 | 94.9 | 91.5 |
| North Dakota | 18 | 94.6 | 101.6 | 87.0 | 74.7 | 100.8 | 99.0 | 101.9 |
| Wisconsin | 19 | 96.6 | 94.1 | 90.0 | 109.0 | 102.1 | 105.2 | 96.5 |
| Illinois | 20 | 96.6 | 97.1 | 90.0 | 102.4 | 103.6 | 100.6 | 97.5 |
| Utah | 21 | 96.6 | 106.0 | 90.4 | 78.0 | 98.6 | 91.8 | 104.2 |
| North Carolina | 22 | 96.7 | 103.8 | 88.2 | 97.4 | 96.6 | 104.4 | 100.5 |
| Michigan | 23 | 96.9 | 97.6 | 94.4 | 116.2 | 98.0 | 93.2 | 92.8 |
| Louisiana | 24 | 97.2 | 100.4 | 93.9 | 90.6 | 98.3 | 97.0 | 100.4 |
| South Carolina | 25 | 97.2 | 103.8 | 89.1 | 99.2 | 95.8 | 100.0 | 101.5 |
| Wyoming | 26 | 99.1 | 103.0 | 106.5 | 88.6 | 94.8 | 93.6 | 96.3 |
| Virginia | 27 | 99.1 | 98.0 | 101.7 | 96.5 | 93.7 | 98.2 | 100.2 |
| New Mexico | 28 | 100.1 | 99.8 | 101.7 | 92.4 | 101.7 | 100.3 | 100.6 |
| Pennsylvania | 29 | 100.5 | 99.7 | 96.8 | 112.8 | 99.6 | 93.9 | 101.7 |
| Florida | 30 | 101.7 | 103.6 | 102.6 | 98.3 | 105.5 | 100.9 | 100.0 |
| Delaware | 31 | 102.3 | 107.3 | 93.8 | 121.4 | 99.8 | 108.0 | 102.1 |
| Montana | 32 | 102.8 | 114.8 | 101.4 | 91.6 | 100.1 | 103.4 | 103.6 |
| Minnesota | 33 | 103.0 | 102.9 | 98.1 | 111.7 | 100.8 | 105.8 | 105.1 |
| Arizona | 34 | 104.4 | 104.7 | 116.6 | 94.9 | 101.4 | 98.2 | 98.1 |
| Washington | 35 | 104.5 | 104.3 | 107.6 | 85.8 | 111.6 | 116.5 | 103.5 |
| Colorado | 36 | 105.2 | 105.1 | 119.1 | 91.2 | 98.7 | 103.1 | 99.7 |
| Nevada | 37 | 105.5 | 103.9 | 113.9 | 94.1 | 106.7 | 106.3 | 101.5 |
| Oregon | 38 | 114.1 | 103.6 | 132.9 | 91.1 | 111.4 | 112.9 | 109.5 |
| Maine | 39 | 114.6 | 104.9 | 136.9 | 98.4 | 104.7 | 105.9 | 108.1 |
| New Hampshire | 40 | 117.6 | 107.1 | 116.4 | 128.2 | 99.9 | 124.9 | 125.4 |
| Massachusetts | 41 | 118.5 | 110.0 | 126.3 | 144.3 | 100.7 | 115.6 | 113.9 |
| Rhode Island | 42 | 119.2 | 110.2 | 122.0 | 125.8 | 101.5 | 118.7 | 124.8 |
| Vermont | 43 | 119.6 | 107.3 | 137.3 | 121.4 | 102.8 | 103.5 | 116.4 |
| New York | 44 | 125.5 | 108.4 | 159.3 | 126.5 | 109.0 | 107.5 | 110.1 |
| Maryland | 45 | 125.7 | 108.5 | 172.9 | 119.7 | 106.2 | 101.7 | 102.0 |
| Connecticut | 46 | 125.7 | 115.0 | 152.6 | 129.3 | 107.8 | 111.3 | 113.1 |
| New Jersey | 47 | 126.9 | 111.3 | 164.4 | 122.9 | 101.0 | 108.0 | 112.4 |
| Alaska | 48 | 127.8 | 132.3 | 136.4 | 129.9 | 127.9 | 136.0 | 116.4 |
| California | 49 | 133.6 | 114.6 | 190.5 | 99.7 | 116.6 | 110.3 | 109.7 |
| District of Columbia | 50 | 139.0 | 111.2 | 221.9 | 101.0 | 105.8 | 103.8 | 103.9 |
| Hawaii | 51 | 166.7 | 157.8 | 250.0 | 140.0 | 128.3 | 117.8 | 123.9 |
Each of the participating Missouri cities had a composite index below the national average in the fourth quarter of 2009. These cities ranged from an index of 87.1 in Joplin to 95.9 in Kansas City. In general, the major metropolitan areas are the most expensive areas in Missouri to reside.
| Cost of Living Indices for Participating Missouri Cities 4th Quarter 2009 | |||||||
| GROCERY | HEALTH | MISC | |||||
| CITY | INDEX | ITEMS | HOUSING | UTILITIES | TRANSPORTATION | CARE | SERVICES |
| Joplin MO | 87.1 | 82.8 | 75.3 | 102.9 | 83.7 | 83.9 | 96.5 |
| Springfield MO | 89.0 | 97.3 | 79.8 | 79.0 | 92.3 | 94.7 | 95.3 |
| St. Louis MO-IL | 89.7 | 99.5 | 78.2 | 86.0 | 94.1 | 98.5 | 94.4 |
| Jefferson City MO | 89.9 | 92.3 | 74.2 | 94.6 | 94.8 | 92.2 | 99.6 |
| MISSOURI | 91.2 | 94.3 | 80.6 | 91.8 | 92.4 | 95.4 | 98.5 |
| Columbia MO | 91.3 | 95.1 | 80.6 | 93.0 | 91.4 | 97.8 | 98.1 |
| St. Joseph MO | 95.8 | 98.4 | 87.5 | 97.8 | 92.8 | 103.7 | 101.6 |
| Kansas City MO-KS | 95.9 | 94.6 | 88.7 | 89.6 | 97.6 | 96.7 | 104.2 |
| U.S. AVERAGE | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
*ACCRA has changed its name to C2ER. See http://www.c2er.org/ for details and more data products.
