Cost of Living Data Series (2024)

Missouri had the seventh lowest cost of living in the United States for the second quarter in 2024.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 second quarter 2024 was 88.6.

2024 Second Quarter Average Cost of Living

Rank	State	Index	Grocery	Housing	Utilities	Transportation	Health	Misc.
1	West Virginia	84.3	98.9	60.2	98.5	93.6	101.3	89.0
2	Oklahoma	85.3	94.6	68.6	93.4	91.8	94.0	89.9
3	Kansas	87.0	94.9	73.9	98.6	88.3	99.0	89.4
4	Alabama	87.6	96.5	68.5	99.4	91.4	86.3	95.6
5	Mississippi	87.7	95.4	74.3	87.0	90.1	98.6	93.5
6	Arkansas	88.5	94.6	74.4	91.8	90.6	87.8	96.3
7	Missouri	88.6	95.5	77.0	99.8	89.3	92.6	91.4
8	Iowa	89.1	96.0	74.8	91.3	96.8	97.2	94.0
9	Indiana	90.3	97.4	76.2	89.1	99.7	97.2	95.4
10	Tennessee	90.8	96.6	83.7	87.8	90.5	90.7	95.3
11	Michigan	90.9	98.3	72.5	99.4	101.2	89.9	97.8
12	Georgia	90.9	96.6	78.5	97.6	95.4	100.6	94.4
13	South Dakota	91.2	95.8	86.2	83.5	94.3	102.8	92.8
14	North Dakota	91.3	94.7	78.4	79.5	100.9	110.2	98.2
15	Louisiana	91.6	95.4	83.4	78.3	94.6	94.6	98.9
16	Texas	91.7	96.0	80.1	103.5	93.3	93.4	95.8
17	Wyoming	92.8	98.8	81.0	90.9	90.8	107.4	99.3
18	Kentucky	93.1	100.1	79.6	79.7	95.7	108.3	102.0
19	New Mexico	93.1	96.1	87.5	84.4	88.9	102.2	99.0
20	Wisconsin	93.3	96.6	82.3	87.8	97.4	106.8	99.1
21	Nebraska	93.6	99.7	79.7	88.5	97.2	101.7	101.6
22	Ohio	94.0	99.1	84.9	101.4	94.0	93.5	97.4
23	Montana	94.7	103.1	85.5	83.9	110.7	108.4	94.4
24	Illinois	94.8	98.3	83.0	101.1	104.7	99.4	97.7
25	Pennsylvania	95.0	99.7	83.2	105.4	102.5	88.8	98.6
26	Minnesota	95.3	101.8	80.8	97.2	93.2	108.0	102.9
27	South Carolina	95.5	98.7	85.8	99.8	94.8	92.8	101.7
28	North Carolina	97.4	98.6	90.9	97.0	94.0	103.7	102.5
29	Delaware	100.5	102.9	97.8	98.7	100.8	102.7	101.8
30	Virginia	100.5	100.0	104.7	99.6	94.5	105.4	98.7
31	Colorado	101.3	101.2	107.1	89.6	90.6	105.6	102.3
32	Puerto Rico	101.4	110.0	98.9	161.3	91.3	72.9	91.3
33	Florida	102.4	104.4	108.0	100.6	97.8	101.2	98.9
34	Nevada	102.6	102.7	107.5	106.4	124.8	86.5	92.5
35	Idaho	103.2	105.9	102.5	78.6	110.3	99.4	107.2
36	Utah	105.2	97.5	117.2	95.5	112.6	88.5	101.0
37	Rhode Island	109.4	101.4	108.7	133.3	94.0	103.3	113.1
38	Connecticut	110.7	102.4	115.3	135.1	102.3	107.3	107.2
39	Maine	111.0	102.8	126.4	109.6	104.9	114.8	103.5
40	Arizona	111.5	100.7	131.7	105.3	106.6	93.9	104.9
41	Oregon	112.2	107.0	133.0	89.3	121.7	107.0	100.5
42	New Hampshire	112.3	100.0	118.8	110.5	101.6	103.2	117.3
43	Vermont	113.8	107.1	126.3	112.8	92.4	109.8	114.1
44	Maryland	114.7	108.5	133.5	109.2	100.8	100.3	109.5
45	New Jersey	115.0	105.5	136.9	102.2	104.4	109.6	108.2
46	Washington	115.8	105.8	128.7	91.8	126.1	119.9	111.7
47	Alaska	123.0	130.7	116.0	147.4	111.4	151.1	119.0
48	New York	123.5	104.6	171.1	99.4	103.2	105.6	107.1
49	Massachusetts	139.9	105.6	195.0	151.0	102.3	114.8	121.4
50	District of Columbia	140.6	107.8	220.0	98.6	108.2	115.9	113.1
51	California	143.0	111.6	200.4	141.9	141.1	106.0	114.5
52	Hawaii	188.4	131.5	314.8	198.8	129.1	119.6	133.2
US	*******	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0

All of the participating Missouri cities had a composite index below the national average for the second quarter in 2024. The city with the lowest cost of living index for this time period was Joplin with an index of 85.5 The city with the highest cost of living was Kansas City, with an index of 91.9.

Cost of Living Indices for Participating Missouri Cities - Second Quarter 2024

Metro	Index	Grocery	Housing	Utilities	Transport.	Health	Misc.
Joplin MO	85.5	92.2	68.0	111.1	81.6	93.0	90.8
Springfield MO	87.0	93.3	74.6	83.8	89.9	94.7	93.5
St. Louis MO-IL	88.4	98.9	74.0	98.2	94.8	89.5	91.0
Missouri	88.6	95.5	77.0	99.8	89.3	92.6	91.4
Columbia MO	90.0	96.6	79.8	98.5	87.6	102.1	92.5
Kansas City MO-KS	91.9	96.7	88.6	107.4	92.5	83.7	89.3
US Average	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0

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