In the fourth quarter of 2012, Missouri had the 10th 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 through the fourth quarter of 2012 was 93.0, up from the third quarter 2012 index of 92.4.
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.
| Fourth Quarter 2012 Cost of Living | ||||||||
| State | Rank | Index | Grocery | Housing | Utilities | Transportation | Heath | Misc |
| Oklahoma | 1 | 90.5 | 93.2 | 81.3 | 92.5 | 95.2 | 94.2 | 94.3 |
| Tennessee | 2 | 90.6 | 95.2 | 79.3 | 89.7 | 93.7 | 92.7 | 97.0 |
| Kentucky | 3 | 91.0 | 92.6 | 79.6 | 95.5 | 96.3 | 95.0 | 95.8 |
| Arkansas | 4 | 91.5 | 95.0 | 83.6 | 92.6 | 94.2 | 89.7 | 95.7 |
| Indiana | 5 | 91.7 | 94.9 | 81.5 | 87.7 | 98.3 | 98.5 | 96.5 |
| Kansas | 6 | 91.9 | 91.2 | 84.2 | 90.8 | 95.8 | 93.8 | 97.4 |
| Texas | 7 | 92.0 | 90.4 | 84.7 | 95.3 | 95.7 | 96.4 | 95.7 |
| Nebraska | 8 | 92.0 | 96.4 | 83.0 | 97.9 | 96.3 | 93.7 | 94.1 |
| Idaho | 9 | 92.1 | 95.5 | 79.6 | 94.8 | 97.9 | 96.5 | 97.5 |
| Missouri | 10 | 93.0 | 96.8 | 80.8 | 103.9 | 96.4 | 96.4 | 96.5 |
| Alabama | 11 | 93.2 | 99.7 | 80.0 | 103.2 | 94.7 | 88.4 | 98.4 |
| Utah | 12 | 93.2 | 98.2 | 81.9 | 87.3 | 100.4 | 92.2 | 99.8 |
| Mississippi | 13 | 93.2 | 95.0 | 82.0 | 105.3 | 95.0 | 91.0 | 97.7 |
| West Virginia | 14 | 93.3 | 92.4 | 88.6 | 100.6 | 102.2 | 99.3 | 91.1 |
| Georgia | 15 | 93.7 | 100.2 | 82.3 | 97.7 | 98.2 | 93.8 | 97.5 |
| Ohio | 16 | 93.9 | 98.7 | 83.6 | 97.6 | 99.0 | 96.1 | 97.1 |
| Iowa | 17 | 94.4 | 95.0 | 91.3 | 90.2 | 98.6 | 96.7 | 96.1 |
| Nevada | 18 | 95.3 | 101.6 | 88.1 | 83.5 | 106.6 | 102.7 | 97.0 |
| Michigan | 19 | 95.3 | 94.3 | 87.9 | 103.9 | 101.2 | 95.8 | 96.9 |
| Louisiana | 20 | 95.6 | 96.6 | 94.4 | 87.8 | 96.3 | 97.0 | 98.3 |
| South Carolina | 21 | 96.1 | 104.2 | 82.9 | 105.4 | 96.1 | 98.8 | 100.3 |
| North Carolina | 22 | 96.3 | 103.7 | 85.9 | 97.6 | 96.7 | 102.0 | 100.5 |
| Virginia | 23 | 96.3 | 96.8 | 94.0 | 97.3 | 94.9 | 99.0 | 97.9 |
| Illinois | 24 | 96.5 | 97.1 | 89.8 | 101.5 | 104.4 | 100.0 | 96.9 |
| New Mexico | 25 | 97.4 | 97.6 | 96.6 | 91.2 | 97.3 | 95.5 | 100.3 |
| South Dakota | 26 | 98.0 | 101.7 | 95.3 | 93.6 | 93.6 | 99.3 | 101.7 |
| Wisconsin | 27 | 98.8 | 98.6 | 91.4 | 104.0 | 100.1 | 109.8 | 101.5 |
| Florida | 28 | 99.0 | 103.7 | 92.6 | 99.7 | 104.3 | 100.4 | 99.9 |
| North Dakota | 29 | 100.0 | 103.9 | 102.6 | 80.2 | 99.2 | 104.3 | 102.1 |
| Montana | 30 | 100.2 | 108.6 | 96.8 | 93.8 | 97.1 | 105.3 | 102.1 |
| Colorado | 31 | 100.6 | 99.7 | 105.3 | 93.1 | 101.1 | 102.4 | 99.0 |
| Pennsylvania | 32 | 101.6 | 103.0 | 98.3 | 111.9 | 101.3 | 95.9 | 101.4 |
| Wyoming | 33 | 101.7 | 104.7 | 109.9 | 96.2 | 90.3 | 100.7 | 100.0 |
| Minnesota | 34 | 102.0 | 102.5 | 98.1 | 102.8 | 101.5 | 106.8 | 104.4 |
| Arizona | 35 | 102.5 | 103.4 | 108.7 | 96.4 | 103.1 | 99.6 | 99.0 |
| Washington | 36 | 102.5 | 102.0 | 103.0 | 89.6 | 106.1 | 112.9 | 103.7 |
| Oregon | 37 | 107.0 | 98.8 | 116.9 | 98.2 | 112.8 | 114.8 | 101.8 |
| Delaware | 38 | 108.2 | 110.5 | 100.8 | 122.8 | 102.0 | 100.6 | 112.2 |
| Maine | 39 | 110.9 | 105.1 | 129.2 | 102.6 | 101.6 | 113.4 | 103.7 |
| New Hampshire | 40 | 119.7 | 100.3 | 126.8 | 125.7 | 104.0 | 114.2 | 126.8 |
| Vermont | 41 | 119.9 | 109.0 | 143.8 | 129.0 | 109.2 | 104.6 | 107.8 |
| Massachusetts | 42 | 122.9 | 111.2 | 142.5 | 120.7 | 110.3 | 119.0 | 117.5 |
| Maryland | 43 | 123.1 | 113.7 | 176.1 | 109.4 | 104.6 | 100.6 | 97.2 |
| Rhode Island | 44 | 123.5 | 111.1 | 131.9 | 127.3 | 105.2 | 116.3 | 128.4 |
| California | 45 | 125.6 | 110.4 | 176.3 | 107.6 | 109.7 | 106.3 | 104.2 |
| New Jersey | 46 | 129.8 | 107.5 | 175.7 | 133.9 | 104.7 | 106.8 | 112.3 |
| New York | 47 | 130.4 | 111.8 | 181.8 | 115.6 | 109.7 | 107.5 | 111.0 |
| Connecticut | 48 | 132.7 | 117.6 | 165.8 | 121.0 | 117.4 | 119.4 | 122.8 |
| Alaska | 49 | 134.5 | 136.0 | 147.7 | 168.4 | 115.1 | 140.2 | 118.6 |
| District of Columbia | 50 | 144.8 | 113.5 | 257.0 | 105.5 | 106.4 | 101.0 | 97.3 |
| Hawaii | 51 | 167.1 | 158.3 | 249.6 | 167.7 | 127.7 | 116.5 | 123.7 |
| Grand Total | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | |
| Cost of Living Indices for Participating Missouri Cities 4th Quarter 2012 | |||||||
| Metro | Index | Grocery | Housing | Utilities | Transportation | Health | Misc. |
| Joplin MO | 89.8 | 93.0 | 76.9 | 119.0 | 97.0 | 95.0 | 86.5 |
| Springfield MO | 90.0 | 97.4 | 78.3 | 92.7 | 96.2 | 96.1 | 92.5 |
| St. Louis MO-IL | 91.6 | 96.9 | 74.3 | 107.4 | 98.1 | 95.9 | 95.7 |
| Jefferson City MO | 92.9 | 96.5 | 80.1 | 97.5 | 93.2 | 95.8 | 100.1 |
| Missouri | 93.0 | 96.8 | 80.8 | 103.9 | 96.4 | 96.4 | 96.5 |
| Columbia MO | 94.4 | 96.3 | 82.0 | 100.8 | 93.7 | 99.3 | 101.5 |
| Kansas City MO-KS | 99.6 | 100.7 | 93.4 | 105.7 | 100.5 | 96.7 | 102.4 |
| US 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.
