Spokane Maintains Low Cost of Living Print E-mail

(Spokane, WA)— Out of the 305 national urban areas that participate in the ACCRA Cost of Living Index, Spokane’s cost of living remains below the national average.

skylineThe Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) recently published the Quarter 2 2011 ACCRA Cost of Living Index. Figures for Spokane show that it is below the national average in the following categories: grocery items, housing, utilities, transportation and misc. goods and services. Overall, the composite index for Spokane is 91.3, which is 8.7 percent lower than the national average.

Spokane’s cost of living is the lowest in comparison to our peer communities. Peer communities include Mobile, Ala.; Tucson, Ariz.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Raleigh-Cary, N.C.; Albuquerque, N.M.; Reno- Sparks, Nev.; Portland, Ore.; Salt Lake City, Utah and Tacoma, Wash.

Peer communities are chosen based on similarities to our region in population, employment and key industry clusters.

When determining moving from one city to another, a Cost of Living Calculator, provided by C2ER, shows the difference affecting personal costs between the two compared cities. A Cost of Living Calculator is available here.

The index is based on more than 90,000 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. Greater Spokane Incorporated, in partnership with Eastern Washington University’s Institute for Public Policy and Economic Analysis, collected the data used for representation of the Spokane region.

For more information on how Spokane compared to other communities, visit our website.