Missouri had the 8th lowest cost of living in the United States for the third quarter of 2016. 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 third quarter of 2016 was 90.4, down from the 2015 third quarter index of 91.2.
Cities across the nation participate in the Council for Community & Economic Research (C2ER) survey on a voluntary basis. Price information in the survey is governed by C2ER collection guidelines.
Composite Cost of Living (Scaled)
Third Quarter 2016
| Third Quarter 2016 Cost of Living | ||||||||
| State | Rank | Index | Grocery | Housing | Utilities | Transportation | Heath | Misc. |
| Mississippi | 1 | 85.9 | 93.6 | 70.3 | 85.3 | 91.7 | 91.5 | 93.7 |
| Arkansas | 2 | 87.1 | 91.7 | 75.9 | 96.0 | 87.6 | 87.2 | 91.9 |
| Michigan | 3 | 89.0 | 90.6 | 76.6 | 94.2 | 99.3 | 95.3 | 92.9 |
| Oklahoma | 4 | 89.2 | 94.3 | 73.6 | 98.7 | 88.2 | 93.5 | 97.4 |
| Tennessee | 5 | 89.4 | 91.2 | 78.5 | 92.0 | 90.3 | 90.5 | 96.7 |
| Indiana | 6 | 89.5 | 94.8 | 76.8 | 92.8 | 91.9 | 94.2 | 95.6 |
| Kansas | 7 | 89.9 | 93.8 | 76.5 | 97.3 | 93.0 | 96.6 | 95.6 |
| Missouri | 8 | 90.4 | 97.5 | 74.4 | 99.5 | 94.9 | 98.0 | 95.7 |
| Kentucky | 9 | 90.5 | 89.4 | 80.1 | 94.0 | 96.6 | 88.2 | 97.1 |
| Texas | 10 | 90.7 | 89.6 | 83.4 | 96.7 | 94.8 | 95.5 | 93.4 |
| Iowa | 11 | 91.0 | 94.0 | 80.5 | 96.3 | 95.4 | 98.8 | 94.7 |
| Alabama | 12 | 91.2 | 97.7 | 73.2 | 107.6 | 94.2 | 87.3 | 98.1 |
| Georgia | 13 | 91.4 | 98.1 | 75.9 | 100.1 | 93.2 | 97.1 | 97.7 |
| Nebraska | 14 | 91.6 | 95.3 | 86.1 | 84.4 | 94.3 | 98.3 | 95.2 |
| Wyoming | 15 | 91.8 | 98.2 | 85.2 | 98.4 | 99.5 | 99.5 | 89.2 |
| Idaho | 16 | 92.1 | 85.0 | 79.7 | 91.5 | 110.9 | 99.4 | 98.5 |
| Utah | 17 | 93.0 | 96.5 | 87.2 | 85.4 | 106.1 | 91.9 | 94.4 |
| West Virginia | 18 | 93.4 | 99.4 | 87.9 | 86.6 | 93.1 | 91.0 | 98.2 |
| Ohio | 19 | 93.8 | 101.7 | 80.9 | 87.3 | 100.9 | 96.0 | 100.8 |
| North Carolina | 20 | 93.9 | 100.1 | 81.0 | 95.2 | 95.0 | 104.4 | 100.2 |
| Illinois | 21 | 94.6 | 94.0 | 89.0 | 93.7 | 105.2 | 100.5 | 95.5 |
| Louisiana | 22 | 94.8 | 97.2 | 89.9 | 87.3 | 97.4 | 98.0 | 99.0 |
| New Mexico | 23 | 96.5 | 103.2 | 91.3 | 101.7 | 100.7 | 100.0 | 94.6 |
| Wisconsin | 24 | 96.8 | 98.9 | 88.4 | 101.4 | 102.9 | 113.2 | 97.4 |
| Arizona | 25 | 98.0 | 102.0 | 96.7 | 97.7 | 101.2 | 99.4 | 96.3 |
| Florida | 26 | 98.3 | 102.2 | 96.2 | 102.0 | 98.3 | 98.5 | 97.4 |
| South Carolina | 27 | 99.2 | 103.0 | 88.0 | 107.4 | 92.0 | 99.8 | 107.0 |
| North Dakota | 28 | 99.4 | 103.5 | 95.4 | 87.4 | 108.2 | 111.3 | 100.4 |
| Virginia | 29 | 100.8 | 97.3 | 108.5 | 100.3 | 91.9 | 99.3 | 98.9 |
| Minnesota | 30 | 100.8 | 104.6 | 95.8 | 91.3 | 97.7 | 110.4 | 106.2 |
| Montana | 31 | 100.8 | 101.3 | 106.6 | 84.8 | 109.9 | 105.6 | 96.9 |
| Delaware | 32 | 101.4 | 102.3 | 97.0 | 106.9 | 92.6 | 97.5 | 106.6 |
| Pennsylvania | 33 | 101.4 | 102.5 | 99.2 | 116.0 | 107.0 | 89.5 | 98.1 |
| Nevada | 34 | 103.3 | 105.1 | 103.3 | 88.3 | 109.6 | 103.3 | 105.2 |
| South Dakota | 35 | 103.7 | 101.1 | 120.1 | 99.6 | 101.2 | 97.0 | 93.9 |
| Colorado | 36 | 103.8 | 102.9 | 114.4 | 85.2 | 101.6 | 104.7 | 101.7 |
| Washington | 37 | 105.2 | 105.2 | 103.4 | 96.0 | 119.3 | 117.6 | 103.1 |
| Maine | 38 | 110.8 | 103.1 | 123.3 | 105.1 | 99.7 | 107.7 | 109.3 |
| Oregon | 39 | 115.6 | 106.1 | 136.8 | 93.2 | 117.4 | 104.2 | 109.2 |
| New Hampshire | 40 | 117.0 | 113.4 | 115.4 | 128.9 | 97.8 | 115.0 | 122.9 |
| Rhode Island | 41 | 120.7 | 105.0 | 142.3 | 128.3 | 90.8 | 107.7 | 118.0 |
| Vermont | 42 | 121.1 | 111.0 | 144.2 | 122.0 | 119.8 | 103.5 | 107.9 |
| New Jersey | 43 | 121.9 | 106.9 | 150.3 | 113.5 | 105.2 | 101.7 | 114.8 |
| Maryland | 44 | 125.5 | 111.4 | 178.3 | 105.6 | 101.0 | 92.7 | 105.3 |
| Connecticut | 45 | 127.7 | 120.4 | 155.9 | 108.0 | 105.3 | 115.7 | 121.9 |
| New York | 46 | 131.0 | 107.8 | 186.8 | 104.9 | 109.3 | 100.7 | 112.2 |
| Alaska | 47 | 131.1 | 140.1 | 138.0 | 139.1 | 125.0 | 145.4 | 119.1 |
| Massachusetts | 48 | 133.4 | 108.1 | 175.7 | 124.1 | 109.4 | 121.8 | 120.0 |
| California | 49 | 135.9 | 117.0 | 195.1 | 111.4 | 127.0 | 107.3 | 107.5 |
| District of Columbia | 50 | 151.6 | 114.3 | 243.7 | 121.8 | 97.9 | 100.1 | 122.5 |
| Hawaii | 51 | 167.9 | 154.2 | 228.6 | 206.0 | 135.0 | 115.6 | 127.8 |
| US Average | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100 | |
All participating Missouri cities had a composite index below the national average for the third quarter of 2016. Joplin, with an index of 85.5, had the lowest cost of living, while Kansas City, with an index of 94.1, had the highest cost of living.
| Cost of Living Indices for Participating Missouri Cities, Third Quarter 2016 | |||||||
| Metro | Index | Grocery | Housing | Utilities | Transportation | Health | Misc. |
| Joplin, MO | 85.5 | 89.3 | 67.5 | 122.7 | 96.8 | 92.1 | 82.9 |
| St. Louis, MO-IL | 89.7 | 102.2 | 69.5 | 110.7 | 94.9 | 97.5 | 92.4 |
| Springfield, MO | 90.0 | 96.1 | 70.5 | 100.2 | 88.1 | 96.7 | 100.6 |
| Jefferson City, MO | 90.3 | 94.9 | 73.5 | 99.5 | 95.3 | 101.1 | 96.8 |
| Missouri | 90.4 | 97.5 | 74.4 | 99.5 | 94.9 | 98.0 | 95.7 |
| Columbia, MO | 92.6 | 98.1 | 82.9 | 82.4 | 95.4 | 101.9 | 99.7 |
| Kansas City, MO-KS | 94.1 | 104.1 | 82.5 | 81.4 | 99.1 | 98.5 | 101.7 |
| US Average | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
See http://www.c2er.org/ for details and more data products.
