Spokane Maintains Low Cost Living Print E-mail

February 24, 2010

 

(Spokane, WA) - The 2009 Annual Average Data report by the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) shows the Spokane region's cost of living remains below the national average and among the lowest of major western cities.   Of the 322 urban areas participating across the United States, Spokane MSA again ranked below the national average, and lower than participating peer communities:  Albuquerque, NM; Boise, ID; Raleigh-Cary, NC; Tucson, AZ; Salt Lake City, UT; Reno-Sparks, NV; Tacoma, WA; Portland, OR; and every participating city in California.

Peer cities have been identified as comparable based on similarities to our region in population, employment, and key industry clusters.  The cities were first selected for Greater Spokane Incorporated's Spokane Vitals project, available on the Greater Spokane Incorporated website at http://www.greaterspokane.org/spokane-vitals.html.

The ACCRA 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.  The index is based on more than 50,000 prices covering almost 60 different items for which prices are collected quarterly by chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, or university applied economic centers in each participating urban area. Eastern Washington University's Institute for Public Policy and Economic Analysis and Greater Spokane Incorporated partner to collect the data representing Spokane County.

The composite index is based on six components:  housing; utilities; grocery items; transportation; health care; and miscellaneous goods and services.  Weights assigned to relative costs are based on government survey data on expenditure patterns for midmanagement households.  Items are priced in all locations at a specified time and according to standardized specifications.  
Spokane Metropolitan Statistical Area's composite index for 2009 is 93.1, 6.9% lower than the national average.

Spokane's health care costs were 6.7% higher than the national average, and housing and utility costs were substantially below average.  Housing costs were 16.9% below the national average, and utilities 15.3% less.  Transportation ranked 6.4% over the national average, however, grocery items and miscellaneous goods and services were 6.3% and 2.2% below the national average, respectively.

For more on how Spokane compared to other cities in the analysis, visit here for more information.

About Greater Spokane Incorporated
Greater Spokane Incorporated is committed to accelerating regional economic prosperity throughout the Spokane region.  Your Regional Chamber and EDC, GSI is funded by more than 1500 private-sector member investors; Washington State; Spokane County; and the cities of Spokane; Spokane Valley; Liberty Lake; Cheney; Airway Heights; Medical Lake; Newport and Millwood.  For more information, visit www.greaterspokane.org or contact us at 509-624-1393 or 1-800-SPOKANE.

About the EWU Institute for Public Policy and Economic Analysis
The Eastern Washington University Institute for Public Policy and Economic Analysis was established in 2002 to provide interdisciplinary research in social, economic and public policy questions for the region EWU serves.  In addition to its work on the Spokane International Airport economic impact analysis, the Institute also regularly publishes research monographs which are distributed to elected officials, community groups, opinion makers, economic development groups and others who might find the data useful for planning, providing services and for other purposes. For more information, visit http://www.ewu.edu/x4901.xml.