Missouri had the 6th lowest cost of living in the United States for 2022. 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 2022 was 89.1.
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.
2022 Annual Average Cost of Living
Rank | State | Index | Grocery | Housing | Utilities | Transportation | Health | Misc. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mississippi | 85.0 | 92.4 | 67.4 | 89.0 | 91.9 | 97.7 | 91.6 |
2 | Oklahoma | 85.8 | 93.7 | 70.2 | 95.1 | 90.9 | 91.2 | 90.4 |
3 | Kansas | 87.5 | 93.7 | 71.1 | 98.0 | 95.6 | 100.4 | 91.6 |
4 | Alabama | 88.1 | 97.6 | 69.6 | 100.7 | 89.9 | 89.6 | 95.0 |
5 | Georgia | 88.6 | 94.6 | 75.6 | 90.3 | 89.8 | 94.6 | 95.1 |
6 | Missouri | 89.1 | 95.4 | 79.9 | 94.8 | 91.8 | 92.3 | 91.3 |
7 | Iowa | 89.2 | 99.5 | 71.5 | 93.7 | 95.8 | 100.0 | 94.8 |
8 | Indiana | 89.9 | 93.7 | 77.4 | 104.0 | 94.0 | 95.5 | 92.9 |
9 | West Virginia | 90.0 | 98.7 | 68.8 | 94.4 | 111.2 | 101.8 | 95.3 |
10 | Tennessee | 90.2 | 94.4 | 81.7 | 93.8 | 90.5 | 89.9 | 94.2 |
11 | Arkansas | 90.6 | 92.7 | 77.9 | 97.5 | 91.9 | 82.0 | 99.3 |
12 | Ohio | 91.9 | 99.0 | 75.3 | 94.3 | 96.5 | 97.6 | 99.9 |
13 | Nebraska | 91.9 | 97.4 | 83.0 | 87.1 | 98.9 | 103.4 | 94.8 |
14 | Michigan | 92.2 | 91.6 | 81.1 | 98.9 | 98.7 | 97.5 | 97.5 |
15 | Texas | 92.5 | 90.3 | 84.7 | 102.7 | 92.4 | 94.8 | 96.9 |
16 | Wyoming | 92.5 | 103.2 | 82.4 | 82.5 | 97.8 | 96.0 | 96.9 |
17 | Illinois | 92.6 | 98.5 | 82.0 | 92.7 | 105.8 | 98.4 | 94.5 |
18 | Louisiana | 93.6 | 97.4 | 86.7 | 87.3 | 96.6 | 100.7 | 97.5 |
19 | New Mexico | 94.0 | 98.6 | 88.4 | 89.6 | 98.6 | 100.9 | 95.6 |
20 | South Carolina | 94.3 | 100.3 | 81.6 | 110.6 | 90.9 | 95.8 | 98.2 |
21 | South Dakota | 94.5 | 104.3 | 92.9 | 89.8 | 92.3 | 94.6 | 92.9 |
22 | Kentucky | 94.9 | 93.5 | 77.3 | 106.1 | 105.3 | 79.0 | 106.7 |
23 | Wisconsin | 95.5 | 97.5 | 85.3 | 103.4 | 95.2 | 116.8 | 97.9 |
24 | North Carolina | 95.7 | 97.7 | 90.0 | 95.3 | 91.0 | 109.1 | 99.0 |
25 | North Dakota | 97.1 | 102.4 | 90.7 | 98.7 | 99.0 | 113.8 | 96.8 |
26 | Minnesota | 97.5 | 100.7 | 84.7 | 97.3 | 99.4 | 112.3 | 104.0 |
27 | Pennsylvania | 98.2 | 104.6 | 88.1 | 108.9 | 104.7 | 96.4 | 99.4 |
28 | Idaho | 99.6 | 96.3 | 104.8 | 80.6 | 112.6 | 93.1 | 99.4 |
29 | Grand | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
30 | Utah | 102.8 | 100.2 | 107.9 | 92.3 | 108.0 | 91.9 | 102.9 |
31 | Virginia | 102.8 | 96.1 | 110.2 | 99.5 | 95.9 | 103.9 | 102.3 |
32 | Florida | 102.8 | 105.4 | 108.5 | 101.3 | 98.7 | 97.3 | 99.2 |
33 | Nevada | 103.2 | 104.2 | 115.5 | 94.6 | 115.2 | 96.4 | 92.7 |
34 | Colorado | 104.6 | 95.3 | 119.8 | 91.1 | 101.7 | 96.0 | 101.9 |
35 | Montana | 104.8 | 100.9 | 117.6 | 84.3 | 106.8 | 97.1 | 102.1 |
36 | Delaware | 105.6 | 105.3 | 105.3 | 94.3 | 114.6 | 105.0 | 106.9 |
37 | Arizona | 105.8 | 101.5 | 120.6 | 100.4 | 101.3 | 95.2 | 99.6 |
38 | New Jersey | 112.4 | 106.2 | 131.8 | 108.1 | 106.6 | 95.1 | 104.3 |
39 | Rhode Island | 112.9 | 98.4 | 117.9 | 124.7 | 109.4 | 103.4 | 114.7 |
40 | Washington | 114.2 | 108.5 | 126.0 | 88.4 | 114.1 | 120.6 | 113.1 |
41 | Maine | 115.3 | 103.4 | 125.0 | 105.0 | 118.1 | 100.6 | 116.9 |
42 | Vermont | 115.9 | 106.2 | 132.3 | 122.3 | 118.3 | 110.1 | 105.3 |
43 | New Hampshire | 116.1 | 105.3 | 109.7 | 114.4 | 106.9 | 130.6 | 127.2 |
44 | Connecticut | 116.8 | 103.0 | 125.5 | 130.3 | 109.8 | 104.8 | 115.8 |
45 | Oregon | 121.2 | 107.9 | 147.5 | 106.7 | 132.4 | 104.2 | 109.0 |
46 | Maryland | 124.0 | 111.4 | 164.0 | 106.7 | 103.1 | 87.7 | 111.7 |
47 | Alaska | 126.6 | 134.1 | 121.3 | 146.2 | 118.0 | 154.4 | 120.4 |
48 | New York | 134.5 | 112.3 | 193.9 | 99.5 | 109.0 | 104.1 | 115.7 |
49 | California | 137.6 | 115.2 | 193.8 | 124.5 | 129.1 | 110.5 | 110.9 |
50 | Massachusetts | 149.7 | 114.0 | 223.8 | 124.8 | 128.1 | 119.8 | 121.1 |
51 | District of Columbia | 152.2 | 109.3 | 251.5 | 112.6 | 108.5 | 99.1 | 118.8 |
52 | Hawaii | 184.0 | 150.1 | 313.5 | 141.4 | 125.7 | 118.1 | 127.5 |
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 2022. The city with the lowest cost of living index for 2022 was Joplin with an index of 82.0 The city with the highest cost of living was Columbia, with an index of 95.0.
Cost of Living Indices for Participating Missouri Cities - Annual Average 2022
Metro | Index | Grocery | Housing | Utilities | Transport. | Health | Misc. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Joplin, Mo | 82.0 | 91.4 | 62.5 | 97.5 | 94.1 | 92.9 | 85.2 |
St. Louis MO-IL | 86.3 | 97.4 | 74.1 | 93.0 | 90.3 | 88.9 | 88.2 |
Springfield, MO | 87.4 | 95.9 | 74.5 | 86.2 | 89.1 | 99.2 | 92.5 |
Missouri | 89.1 | 95.4 | 79.9 | 94.8 | 91.8 | 92.3 | 91.3 |
Kansas City MO-KS | 94.9 | 92.4 | 102.4 | 101.6 |
86.4 |
88.5 | 91.2 |
Columbia, MO | 95.0 | 99.9 | 86.1 | 95.6 | 99.0 | 91.8 | 99.5 |
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.