Missouri had the seventh lowest cost of living in the United States for the second quarter of 2023. 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 second quarter 2023 was 89.9.
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.
2023 Second Quarter 2023 Cost of Living
Rank | State | Index | Grocery | Housing | Utilities | Transportation | Health | Misc. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mississippi | 86.0 | 94.9 | 69.5 | 87.6 | 91.0 | 98.3 | 92.1 |
2 | Oklahoma | 86.9 | 94.6 | 70.6 | 97.0 | 90.9 | 92.0 | 92.4 |
3 | Kansas | 87.2 | 95.0 | 70.0 | 102.0 | 93.9 | 98.5 | 90.6 |
4 | Alabama | 88.2 | 97.1 | 69.8 | 101.9 | 90.5 | 88.0 | 95.3 |
5 | West Virginia | 89.3 | 98.3 | 69.3 | 95.0 | 100.1 | 99.0 | 96.2 |
6 | Georgia | 89.3 | 96.7 | 76.6 | 86.9 | 90.9 | 98.7 | 95.4 |
7 | Missouri | 89.9 | 96.8 | 79.2 | 95.9 | 95.0 | 88.7 | 92.9 |
8 | Iowa | 89.9 | 98.0 | 73.4 | 94.8 | 98.1 | 99.3 | 95.2 |
9 | Arkansas | 90.1 | 94.1 | 76.7 | 95.4 | 90.3 | 85.6 | 98.6 |
10 | Tennessee | 90.4 | 96.2 | 82.7 | 93.6 | 90.3 | 88.7 | 93.7 |
11 | Nebraska | 91.3 | 96.7 | 80.9 | 86.7 | 99.9 | 99.1 | 95.5 |
12 | Ohio | 91.4 | 101.8 | 73.8 | 93.7 | 98.2 | 95.3 | 98.3 |
13 | Indiana | 91.5 | 96.8 | 77.3 | 106.2 | 95.6 | 101.1 | 94.4 |
14 | Wyoming | 92.1 | 102.1 | 80.1 | 84.2 | 94.2 | 97.3 | 98.1 |
15 | Michigan | 92.1 | 96.6 | 80.1 | 100.4 | 97.7 | 94.0 | 96.1 |
16 | Illinois | 92.1 | 98.2 | 81.0 | 90.9 | 105.0 | 96.1 | 95.1 |
17 | Louisiana | 92.2 | 96.3 | 83.5 | 86.4 | 96.8 | 99.0 | 96.9 |
18 | Texas | 92.9 | 93.3 | 84.2 | 104.5 | 92.3 | 93.5 | 96.8 |
19 | South Dakota | 93.4 | 100.4 | 90.1 | 89.8 | 94.5 | 95.4 | 93.1 |
20 | New Mexico | 94.1 | 96.8 | 88.0 | 91.7 | 96.0 | 100.4 | 97.1 |
21 | Kentucky | 94.5 | 97.6 | 75.9 | 106.1 | 102.6 | 79.8 | 105.6 |
22 | Wisconsin | 95.1 | 98.1 | 84.6 | 103.6 | 96.3 | 114.6 | 97.2 |
23 | Minnesota | 95.6 | 98.5 | 83.3 | 95.2 | 98.5 | 111.5 | 101.6 |
24 | North Carolina | 95.8 | 98.1 | 91.6 | 95.0 | 92.2 | 108.9 | 97.5 |
25 | North Dakota | 96.0 | 97.7 | 86.4 | 100.6 | 99.3 | 112.3 | 98.9 |
26 | South Carolina | 96.4 | 100.5 | 89.0 | 107.3 | 90.2 | 96.2 | 99.2 |
27 | Pennsylvania | 97.0 | 101.2 | 85.7 | 106.1 | 105.0 | 97.7 | 99.9 |
28 | Puerto Rico | 97.9 | 112.8 | 82.8 | 147.1 | 88.4 | 70.0 | 96.8 |
29 | Idaho | 99.2 | 98.9 | 100.7 | 82.7 | 109.2 | 95.2 | 100.4 |
30 | Nevada | 101.7 | 103.4 | 111.8 | 97.4 | 114.6 | 93.4 | 91.6 |
31 | Florida | 101.9 | 101.9 | 108.2 | 100.0 | 98.8 | 96.5 | 98.8 |
32 | Virginia | 102.6 | 98.7 | 107.4 | 102.4 | 95.3 | 102.7 | 102.3 |
33 | Utah | 102.7 | 99.2 | 109.5 | 93.9 | 105.8 | 90.8 | 101.9 |
34 | Montana | 103.0 | 101.9 | 107.3 | 89.6 | 111.5 | 98.2 | 102.1 |
35 | Delaware | 103.3 | 103.1 | 101.3 | 95.7 | 109.3 | 104.6 | 105.5 |
36 | Colorado | 104.8 | 99.1 | 116.4 | 90.9 | 104.5 | 100.7 | 102.1 |
37 | Arizona | 107.1 | 101.3 | 121.9 | 97.4 | 105.0 | 94.9 | 102.4 |
38 | New Jersey | 111.7 | 104.3 | 130.1 | 108.2 | 106.4 | 95.4 | 104.4 |
39 | Rhode Island | 111.8 | 99.5 | 116.4 | 118.9 | 101.7 | 106.8 | 115.2 |
40 | Maine | 112.5 | 101.7 | 120.3 | 104.8 | 116.4 | 97.8 | 114.3 |
41 | Connecticut | 114.4 | 101.0 | 123.5 | 127.0 | 104.3 | 107.2 | 113.1 |
42 | New Hampshire | 114.6 | 102.7 | 108.4 | 122.0 | 110.4 | 124.0 | 123.1 |
43 | Washington | 115.5 | 109.2 | 129.9 | 90.9 | 116.2 | 119.8 | 112.3 |
44 | Vermont | 115.6 | 105.4 | 131.7 | 121.2 | 114.5 | 107.4 | 107.0 |
45 | Oregon | 116.2 | 107.4 | 140.8 | 97.2 | 117.1 | 103.0 | 106.7 |
46 | Maryland | 120.7 | 108.3 | 156.4 | 108.2 | 100.2 | 92.7 | 109.4 |
47 | Alaska | 125.3 | 129.9 | 119.6 | 147.2 | 119.5 | 152.1 | 119.7 |
48 | New York | 126.6 | 104.7 | 175.5 | 102.8 | 107.0 | 105.6 | 110.6 |
49 | California | 139.7 | 112.8 | 204.3 | 124.7 | 126.1 | 109.6 | 110.2 |
50 | Massachusetts | 143.1 | 108.7 | 202.3 | 123.4 | 114.3 | 117.9 | 126.1 |
51 | District of Columbia | 149.7 | 105.9 | 245.1 | 111.7 | 107.0 | 102.9 | 118.4 |
52 | Hawaii | 181.5 | 132.7 | 314.1 | 140.3 | 131.8 | 119.4 | 126.3 |
US | *** | 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 second quarter 2023. The city with the lowest cost of living index for this time period was Joplin with an index of 83.3 The city with the highest cost of living was Cape Girardeau, with an index of 95.2.
Cost of Living Indices for Participating Missouri Cities - Second Quarter 2023
Metro | Index | Grocery | Housing | Utilities | Transport. | Health | Misc. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Joplin, Mo | 83.3 | 92.2 | 61.2 | 101.6 | 95.8 | 92.1 | 88.3 |
Springfield, MO | 86.1 | 94.6 | 73.7 | 83.6 | 88.6 | 96.1 | 91.1 |
St. Louis MO-IL | 87.9 | 97.4 | 75.7 | 96.9 | 92.5 | 88.3 | 89.9 |
Missouri | 89.9 | 96.8 | 79.2 | 95.9 | 95.0 | 88.7 | 92.9 |
Columbia, MO | 92.9 | 98.2 | 85.2 | 93.8 |
95.2 |
91.1 | 96.4 |
Kansas City MO-KS | 94.1 | 94.5 | 97.9 | 104.2 | 87.0 | 85.9 | 91.0 |
Cape Girardeau Mo-Il | 95.2 | 103.8 | 81.5 | 95.5 | 110.8 | 78.9 | 100.8 |
US Average | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
See https://www.c2er.org/ for details and more data products.