COST OF LIVING INDEX QUARTERLY UPDATE

COLI Release Highlights, 2016 Annual Average

From Council for Community and Economic Research, February 1, 2017

This report represents the tenth edition of a new format for the Cost of Living Index.  Beginning with the fourth quarter of 2007, C2ER has annually published an unweighted average of prices accumulated from the previous three quarters. The data presented represent average prices submitted for the first three quarters of 2016.

Among the 264 urban areas that participated in the 2016 Cost of Living Index, the after-tax cost for a professional/managerial standard of living ranged from more than twice the national average in New York (Manhattan), NY, to more than 20 percent below the national average in McAllen, TX.   The Cost of Living Index is published quarterly by C2ER – The Council for Community and Economic Research.

The Cost of Living Index measures regional differences in the cost of consumer goods and services, excluding taxes and non-consumer expenditures, for professional and managerial households in the top income quintile. It is based on more than 90,000 prices covering almost 60 different items for which prices are collected three times a year by chambers of commerce, economic development organizations or university applied economic centers in each participating urban area. Small differences in the index numbers should not be interpreted as significant.

The composite index is based on six components: housing, utilities, grocery items, transportation, health care, and miscellaneous goods and services.

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