Missouri had the 11th lowest cost of living in the United States for the third quarter of 2015. In general, the most expensive areas to live were the District of Columbia, Alaska, Hawaii, and the Northeast and 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 for the third quarter of 2015 index was 91.2, down from the third quarter of 2014 index of 93.1.
Cities across the nation participate in C2ER's survey on a volunteer basis. Price information in the survey is governed by C2ER collection guidelines which strive for uniformity.
*No new data was available for the state of New Mexico
Composite Cost of Living (Scaled)
Third Quarter 2015
*No new data was available for the state of New Mexico
All of the participating Missouri cities had a composite index below the national average for the third quarter of 2015. The city that had the lowest index for the year was Joplin with an index of 85.5. The city with the highest index for 2015 was Columbia with an index of 94.5.
| Third Quarter 2015 Cost of Living | ||||||||
| State | Rank | Index | Grocery | Housing | Utilities | Transportation | Heath | Misc. |
| Mississippi | 1 | 83.4 | 93.3 | 68.9 | 82.8 | 84.9 | 89.5 | 90.5 |
| Idaho | 2 | 87.1 | 85.4 | 71.5 | 87.3 | 105.8 | 104.6 | 92.0 |
| Indiana | 3 | 87.6 | 93.1 | 75.5 | 93.7 | 91.8 | 93.8 | 91.5 |
| Oklahoma | 4 | 89.5 | 94.3 | 78.7 | 99.3 | 91.7 | 95.9 | 91.9 |
| Tennessee | 5 | 90.1 | 93.2 | 77.3 | 94.7 | 91.3 | 89.7 | 98.0 |
| Alabama | 6 | 90.2 | 99.3 | 75.7 | 101.5 | 90.6 | 86.1 | 95.8 |
| Kentucky | 7 | 90.8 | 91.4 | 77.5 | 96.0 | 99.9 | 94.4 | 96.7 |
| Kansas | 8 | 91.0 | 92.9 | 79.8 | 97.3 | 94.9 | 98.6 | 95.4 |
| Nebraska | 9 | 91.1 | 95.7 | 85.3 | 85.7 | 98.6 | 98.3 | 92.1 |
| Arkansas | 10 | 91.1 | 93.8 | 79.6 | 101.7 | 90.3 | 89.4 | 97.3 |
| Missouri | 11 | 91.2 | 96.0 | 78.3 | 104.0 | 96.3 | 96.5 | 93.6 |
| Michigan | 12 | 91.5 | 91.3 | 80.0 | 100.3 | 105.0 | 94.9 | 93.4 |
| Georgia | 13 | 91.6 | 101.9 | 76.9 | 91.8 | 93.8 | 99.0 | 97.9 |
| Texas | 14 | 91.6 | 87.8 | 85.4 | 95.0 | 95.9 | 95.2 | 95.5 |
| Iowa | 15 | 91.9 | 92.9 | 83.1 | 93.2 | 97.3 | 97.1 | 95.9 |
| Utah | 16 | 92.5 | 93.9 | 86.9 | 85.2 | 105.9 | 90.0 | 94.4 |
| Louisiana | 17 | 93.0 | 98.1 | 89.0 | 87.7 | 92.2 | 92.8 | 96.2 |
| Wyoming | 18 | 93.5 | 95.4 | 87.5 | 100.9 | 97.0 | 100.9 | 93.3 |
| Ohio | 19 | 93.8 | 100.2 | 81.7 | 98.9 | 99.0 | 95.9 | 97.8 |
| Virginia | 20 | 94.4 | 93.9 | 89.5 | 102.0 | 90.0 | 99.9 | 97.3 |
| North Carolina | 21 | 94.6 | 98.0 | 83.6 | 100.4 | 95.1 | 103.7 | 99.2 |
| New Mexico | 22 | 95.6 | 92.4 | 96.4 | 91.9 | 101.6 | 97.3 | 95.0 |
| Illinois | 23 | 96.5 | 98.8 | 91.2 | 99.4 | 102.8 | 99.0 | 96.3 |
| South Carolina | 24 | 97.1 | 105.9 | 84.4 | 105.8 | 90.4 | 103.0 | 103.5 |
| Wisconsin | 25 | 98.3 | 102.7 | 92.6 | 98.2 | 103.4 | 114.1 | 97.4 |
| Arizona | 26 | 98.6 | 98.3 | 98.4 | 98.8 | 102.1 | 98.5 | 97.4 |
| Florida | 27 | 99.5 | 105.1 | 95.5 | 100.9 | 97.8 | 98.0 | 101.1 |
| Minnesota | 28 | 100.2 | 108.0 | 92.2 | 85.9 | 98.9 | 110.7 | 107.7 |
| North Dakota | 29 | 101.8 | 112.7 | 102.5 | 86.9 | 98.6 | 113.0 | 100.9 |
| Delaware | 30 | 102.0 | 106.9 | 95.8 | 110.1 | 98.3 | 101.7 | 104.1 |
| Pennsylvania | 31 | 102.6 | 103.1 | 98.8 | 111.1 | 102.1 | 92.2 | 104.5 |
| Montana | 32 | 102.9 | 101.6 | 113.9 | 85.3 | 99.5 | 104.1 | 100.6 |
| West Virginia | 33 | 102.9 | 98.9 | 99.7 | 93.7 | 98.5 | 97.6 | 112.8 |
| Colorado | 34 | 103.4 | 97.5 | 115.7 | 89.7 | 98.3 | 102.4 | 101.9 |
| South Dakota | 35 | 106.3 | 108.3 | 120.2 | 91.2 | 113.3 | 99.9 | 96.2 |
| Nevada | 36 | 107.4 | 111.8 | 99.7 | 95.3 | 120.3 | 103.4 | 111.9 |
| Washington | 37 | 107.8 | 106.1 | 110.4 | 89.6 | 116.7 | 117.7 | 107.4 |
| Maine | 38 | 113.1 | 108.2 | 119.5 | 120.4 | 110.1 | 110.6 | 108.8 |
| New Hampshire | 39 | 119.1 | 116.2 | 121.0 | 137.9 | 105.9 | 115.2 | 118.2 |
| Maryland | 40 | 123.0 | 113.1 | 172.2 | 97.5 | 107.1 | 88.0 | 103.2 |
| Rhode Island | 41 | 123.1 | 122.8 | 135.6 | 124.1 | 105.3 | 113.5 | 120.1 |
| Vermont | 42 | 124.1 | 111.5 | 154.4 | 120.7 | 109.0 | 106.9 | 112.1 |
| New Jersey | 43 | 124.7 | 112.6 | 158.2 | 120.0 | 106.5 | 107.1 | 111.4 |
| Oregon | 44 | 126.7 | 112.5 | 160.9 | 72.9 | 120.1 | 108.2 | 125.3 |
| Massachusetts | 45 | 130.6 | 104.6 | 173.9 | 116.5 | 109.3 | 120.2 | 118.2 |
| Connecticut | 46 | 130.8 | 133.6 | 156.7 | 121.5 | 110.7 | 114.4 | 119.6 |
| Alaska | 47 | 131.3 | 126.4 | 144.5 | 147.4 | 124.5 | 144.7 | 117.3 |
| California | 48 | 135.3 | 113.5 | 193.7 | 110.7 | 130.6 | 107.1 | 107.1 |
| New York | 49 | 143.5 | 112.7 | 225.8 | 106.9 | 110.6 | 102.5 | 114.9 |
| District of Columbia | 50 | 149.3 | 117.1 | 245.1 | 95.9 | 110.3 | 92.9 | 119.4 |
| Hawaii | 51 | 167.4 | 157.5 | 225.8 | 220.1 | 128.2 | 106.4 | 126.8 |
| Grand Total | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | |
| Cost of Living Indices for Participating Missouri Cities - Third Quarter 2015 | |||||||
| Metro | Index | Grocery | Housing | Utilities | Transportation | Health | Misc. |
| Joplin MO | 85.5 | 89.4 | 71.0 | 117.7 | 96.5 | 91.6 | 81.0 |
| Springfield MO | 89.0 | 93.8 | 71.1 | 102.8 | 97.7 | 98.3 | 93.6 |
| Missouri | 91.2 | 96.0 | 78.3 | 104.0 | 96.3 | 96.5 | 93.6 |
| Jefferson City MO | 91.6 | 93.9 | 78.0 | 100.9 | 92.0 | 98.5 | 98.5 |
| St. Louis MO-IL | 92.7 | 105.9 | 71.5 | 119.4 | 99.9 | 96.7 | 93.7 |
| Kansas City MO-KS | 93.7 | 98.7 | 89.1 | 85.9 | 101.3 | 92.4 | 95.4 |
| Columbia MO | 94.5 | 94.0 | 89.3 | 97.2 | 90.1 | 101.4 | 99.2 |
| 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.
