Missouri tied for the seventh lowest cost of living in the United States for the the first quarter 2026. In general, the most expensive areas to live were Hawaii, Alaska, the Northeast, and the West Coast. The least expensive areas were 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 index for the first quarter 2026 was 88.6.
Cities across the nation participate in the Council for Community & Economic Research (C2ER) survey on a volunteer basis. Price information in the survey is governed by C2ER collection guidelines which strive for uniformity.
Cost of Living-First Quarter 2026
| Rank | State | Index | Grocery | Housing | Utilities | Transportation | Health | Misc. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma | 83.5 | 93.5 | 66.9 | 94.5 | 83.7 | 98.1 | 88.8 |
| 2 | Alabama | 85.0 | 95.0 | 67.7 | 96.9 | 88.8 | 85.6 | 91.8 |
| 3 | Mississippi | 86.2 | 93.2 | 71.0 | 94.4 | 89.8 | 85.1 | 93.7 |
| 4 | Kansas | 87.6 | 95.3 | 77.5 | 97.4 | 88.0 | 90.6 | 90.1 |
| 5 | West Virginia | 87.9 | 96.2 | 71.3 | 90.4 | 99.5 | 89.5 | 94.9 |
| 6 | Indiana | 88.3 | 97.9 | 73.0 | 95.2 | 95.7 | 91.5 | 93.5 |
| 7 | Iowa | 88.6 | 96.6 | 75.6 | 88.6 | 93.7 | 94.3 | 94.5 |
| 7 | Missouri | 88.6 | 94.7 | 76.1 | 92.4 | 86.5 | 98.0 | 95.2 |
| 9 | Tennessee | 88.9 | 95.8 | 80.3 | 84.5 | 87.2 | 88.7 | 95.0 |
| 10 | Arkansas | 89.1 | 93.4 | 77.2 | 98.3 | 88.8 | 85.8 | 95.7 |
| 11 | New Mexico | 89.9 | 96.0 | 83.2 | 80.0 | 89.5 | 101.9 | 94.0 |
| 12 | Georgia | 90.6 | 96.9 | 77.6 | 98.6 | 96.3 | 99.6 | 94.3 |
| 13 | Texas | 90.7 | 95.9 | 77.7 | 104.0 | 90.9 | 96.8 | 95.6 |
| 14 | North Dakota | 90.7 | 94.1 | 77.2 | 86.4 | 96.7 | 107.7 | 98.3 |
| 15 | Louisiana | 91.1 | 95.4 | 83.3 | 82.3 | 94.4 | 91.6 | 97.3 |
| 16 | Nebraska | 91.3 | 99.5 | 78.1 | 92.1 | 87.4 | 105.6 | 97.9 |
| 17 | South Carolina | 91.9 | 98.6 | 79.8 | 95.1 | 94.6 | 97.6 | 97.3 |
| 18 | Kentucky | 92.5 | 101.4 | 78.1 | 87.8 | 95.8 | 92.4 | 101.6 |
| 19 | Minnesota | 93.4 | 98.8 | 79.5 | 95.4 | 93.6 | 111.5 | 100.0 |
| 20 | Wyoming | 93.7 | 98.9 | 86.5 | 92.4 | 87.7 | 97.0 | 99.3 |
| 21 | Ohio | 93.7 | 98.9 | 86.3 | 100.9 | 92.7 | 96.5 | 96.0 |
| 22 | Michigan | 93.9 | 100.1 | 85.7 | 98.0 | 98.5 | 88.2 | 97.0 |
| 23 | South Dakota | 94.1 | 97.6 | 88.2 | 85.4 | 100.1 | 104.1 | 96.9 |
| 24 | Illinois | 95.1 | 99.2 | 84.7 | 102.6 | 97.0 | 103.0 | 98.9 |
| 25 | Pennsylvania | 96.2 | 99.0 | 84.1 | 108.4 | 104.2 | 95.1 | 100.5 |
| 26 | North Carolina | 96.6 | 100.8 | 91.7 | 94.3 | 92.3 | 108.4 | 99.2 |
| 27 | Wisconsin | 97.4 | 100.9 | 96.6 | 96.0 | 89.8 | 105.3 | 97.7 |
| 28 | Virginia | 99.1 | 99.3 | 99.1 | 99.5 | 98.0 | 96.9 | 99.6 |
| 29 | Puerto Rico | 100.4 | 109.2 | 94.1 | 160.6 | 93.6 | 70.0 | 92.9 |
| 30 | Utah | 100.6 | 98.6 | 110.8 | 84.4 | 96.2 | 89.9 | 99.2 |
| 31 | Florida | 100.7 | 105.7 | 101.1 | 94.6 | 99.5 | 101.4 | 99.8 |
| 31 | Nevada | 100.7 | 103.8 | 110.5 | 81.3 | 115.6 | 105.4 | 91.1 |
| 33 | Idaho | 101.7 | 103.4 | 105.1 | 73.4 | 101.0 | 101.6 | 105.3 |
| 33 | Delaware | 101.7 | 103.6 | 101.3 | 97.5 | 99.6 | 101.6 | 102.9 |
| 35 | Colorado | 101.8 | 100.9 | 107.4 | 88.7 | 89.1 | 103.9 | 103.5 |
| 36 | Montana | 105.9 | 102.4 | 113.2 | 80.2 | 103.9 | 106.3 | 108.0 |
| 37 | Arizona | 107.6 | 99.6 | 119.0 | 102.1 | 103.5 | 98.8 | 104.9 |
| 38 | Oregon | 109.6 | 104.5 | 117.4 | 96.3 | 115.4 | 115.3 | 106.1 |
| 39 | New Hampshire | 110.1 | 100.0 | 116.5 | 116.4 | 106.0 | 106.5 | 108.8 |
| 40 | Rhode Island | 111.2 | 103.8 | 114.4 | 122.3 | 103.1 | 104.1 | 111.9 |
| 41 | Vermont | 113.0 | 99.6 | 127.5 | 112.0 | 109.0 | 108.2 | 108.2 |
| 42 | Connecticut | 114.2 | 106.0 | 123.5 | 126.5 | 105.6 | 108.9 | 109.6 |
| 43 | Maine | 114.6 | 101.6 | 134.8 | 124.6 | 104.4 | 114.7 | 102.7 |
| 44 | Washington | 114.6 | 106.1 | 123.1 | 99.4 | 131.2 | 110.3 | 111.0 |
| 45 | New Jersey | 118.8 | 109.1 | 144.3 | 110.3 | 103.8 | 115.8 | 107.0 |
| 46 | Maryland | 121.1 | 109.3 | 149.1 | 113.2 | 106.3 | 106.9 | 109.5 |
| 47 | New York | 124.7 | 100.3 | 172.3 | 102.2 | 111.5 | 108.9 | 104.9 |
| 48 | Alaska | 129.0 | 126.6 | 132.4 | 148.4 | 123.8 | 130.7 | 123.1 |
| 49 | District of Columbia | 134.3 | 109.2 | 190.4 | 107.8 | 105.8 | 118.7 | 112.4 |
| 50 | California | 140.5 | 110.5 | 189.5 | 134.6 | 142.0 | 111.1 | 116.0 |
| 51 | Massachusetts | 147.8 | 106.8 | 217.5 | 143.9 | 108.5 | 131.8 | 118.3 |
| 52 | Hawaii | 184.8 | 136.3 | 302.4 | 183.5 | 149.0 | 113.1 | 122.7 |
| ** | United States | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
All of the participating Missouri cities had a composite index below the national average for the first quarter of 2026. The city with the lowest cost of living index for this time period was Joplin with an index of 83.7. The city with the highest cost of living was Columbia, with an index of 91.3.
Cost of Living Indices for Participating Missouri Cities - First Quarter 2026
| Metro | Index | Grocery | Housing | Utilities | Transportation | Health | Misc. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joplin MO | 83.7 | 91.6 | 59.8 | 98.0 | 80.9 | 93.8 | 96.9 |
| Missouri | 88.6 | 94.7 | 76.1 | 92.4 | 86.5 | 98.0 | 95.2 |
| Springfield MO | 89.7 | 92.2 | 84.5 | 79.3 | 90.5 | 98.4 | 94.3 |
| St. Louis MO-IL | 89.8 | 98.7 | 80.4 | 98.0 | 88.8 | 103.6 | 90.4 |
| Columbia MO | 91.3 | 96.5 | 79.7 | 94.1 | 85.9 | 96.3 | 99.3 |
See the Council of Community and Economic Research (C2ER) for details and more data products.