In the third quarter of 2008, Missouri had the 7th 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 third quarter of 2008 was 91.0.
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.
| 3rd Quarter 2008 Cost of Living Figures | ||||||||
| State | Rank | Index | Grocery | Health Care | Housing | MISC | Transportation | Utilities |
| AL | 9 | 91.7 | 98.6 | 88.9 | 81.7 | 96.5 | 97.7 | 91.8 |
| AK | 47 | 130.7 | 135.8 | 133.2 | 133.8 | 123.9 | 115.8 | 152.4 |
| AZ | 36 | 106.6 | 107.0 | 99.3 | 118.7 | 102.2 | 102.3 | 92.2 |
| AR | 3 | 89.4 | 95.5 | 91.5 | 77.1 | 94.9 | 94.5 | 93.4 |
| CA | 48 | 136.5 | 116.6 | 111.2 | 199.9 | 109.0 | 111.7 | 99.4 |
| CO | 34 | 105.8 | 108.1 | 103.8 | 116.6 | 100.6 | 103.0 | 91.5 |
| CT | 43 | 124.5 | 107.8 | 113.7 | 150.5 | 111.2 | 107.6 | 134.5 |
| DE | 27 | 100.2 | 103.7 | 103.1 | 88.3 | 102.3 | 102.7 | 120.8 |
| DC | 49 | 137.4 | 107.5 | 104.8 | 216.8 | 105.0 | 108.1 | 88.9 |
| FL | 30 | 102.7 | 102.7 | 99.8 | 105.5 | 102.2 | 103.0 | 96.4 |
| GA | 5 | 90.9 | 97.8 | 99.3 | 78.3 | 97.6 | 98.7 | 86.2 |
| HI | 50 | 163.6 | 150.4 | 111.7 | 255.4 | 115.6 | 117.3 | 135.2 |
| ID | 13 | 92.7 | 93.3 | 96.0 | 85.9 | 97.1 | 99.9 | 89.0 |
| IL | 25 | 97.1 | 98.2 | 98.9 | 90.1 | 97.2 | 103.6 | 109.0 |
| IN | 14 | 92.9 | 95.5 | 98.8 | 84.3 | 93.8 | 99.4 | 103.5 |
| IA | 16 | 93.7 | 90.8 | 94.1 | 86.8 | 96.8 | 98.8 | 101.9 |
| KS | 10 | 92.2 | 92.3 | 92.3 | 83.7 | 97.4 | 96.0 | 95.9 |
| KY | 8 | 91.4 | 91.3 | 97.9 | 80.6 | 95.6 | 98.1 | 100.3 |
| LA | 19 | 95.0 | 96.3 | 95.1 | 91.0 | 98.1 | 98.2 | 91.9 |
| MD | 44 | 127.5 | 106.0 | 102.8 | 177.5 | 103.7 | 108.5 | 114.2 |
| MA | 40 | 118.8 | 104.2 | 121.7 | 129.4 | 112.9 | 107.9 | 135.7 |
| MI | 24 | 96.7 | 100.3 | 93.8 | 95.5 | 93.4 | 100.0 | 103.8 |
| MN | 33 | 104.9 | 105.9 | 103.6 | 104.7 | 106.8 | 101.0 | 102.0 |
| MS | 12 | 92.3 | 93.5 | 96.4 | 82.8 | 95.1 | 96.6 | 103.5 |
| MO | 7 | 91.0 | 93.1 | 95.7 | 79.2 | 97.7 | 96.0 | 94.2 |
| MT | 35 | 106.1 | 118.7 | 104.4 | 104.4 | 104.5 | 102.7 | 104.9 |
| NE | 4 | 90.1 | 96.8 | 90.8 | 81.3 | 92.8 | 92.8 | 96.5 |
| NV | 37 | 108.7 | 105.8 | 108.8 | 126.3 | 102.1 | 102.2 | 88.5 |
| NH | 41 | 118.8 | 96.5 | 125.2 | 126.1 | 121.1 | 104.5 | 130.4 |
| NJ | 45 | 128.4 | 110.2 | 108.0 | 170.0 | 112.8 | 102.6 | 114.5 |
| NM | 28 | 101.2 | 101.9 | 101.5 | 104.7 | 99.9 | 100.7 | 94.4 |
| NY | 46 | 130.5 | 109.6 | 107.2 | 169.5 | 111.3 | 107.1 | 137.9 |
| NC | 23 | 96.3 | 102.8 | 104.8 | 89.5 | 100.6 | 96.1 | 91.1 |
| ND | 18 | 94.9 | 101.7 | 98.1 | 85.1 | 103.4 | 96.8 | 83.8 |
| OH | 15 | 93.5 | 97.7 | 95.5 | 79.4 | 97.9 | 97.8 | 110.5 |
| OK | 2 | 88.8 | 94.6 | 96.6 | 75.0 | 94.1 | 97.3 | 92.7 |
| OR | 38 | 113.6 | 99.1 | 112.4 | 134.2 | 111.1 | 108.7 | 84.2 |