PRESS RELEASE: November 3, 2011
Dr. Robert Carreira
Director, Center for Economic Research
Cochise College
901 N. Colombo Ave.
Sierra Vista, AZ 85635
Local cost of living remains below national average
According to the ACCRA Cost of Living Index, the cost of living in Cochise County remained below the national average in the third quarter of 2011 and overall costs dropped from the second quarter relative to other areas. The report, released in October, provides comparative data for 309 urban areas in all 50 states.
The Council for Community and Economic Research in Arlington, VA administers the index, which measures relative price levels for consumer goods and services in participating areas. The index includes separate weighted sub-indices for grocery items, housing, utilities, transportation, healthcare, and miscellaneous goods and services.
The data indicate Cochise County's cost of living in the third quarter of 2011 was 0.9 percent lower than the average for all participating places nationwide. This was down from the second quarter, when local costs were only 0.2 percent lower than the national average.
The cost of living in Cochise County in the third quarter was 3.9 percent higher than Tucson and 4.9 percent higher than Phoenix. This reflects a narrowing of the gap in costs between Cochise County and Tucson and a widening of the gap with Phoenix. In the second quarter, the local cost of living was 5.4 percent higher than Tucson and 1.5 percent higher than Phoenix. The higher cost of living in Cochise County than in Tucson in the third quarter was attributable to higher local costs for housing, utilities, and transportation. In comparison to Phoenix, the overall higher cost locally was due to higher costs for housing, transportation, and miscellaneous goods and services.
In the third quarter of 2011, costs were lower in Cochise County than nationwide for grocery items, housing, and utilities, but were higher for transportation, healthcare, and miscellaneous goods and services.
Local grocery costs were 4.9 percent below the national average in the third quarter of 2011, down from 2.8 percent below the national average in the second quarter.
Cochise County housing costs, which include home prices, mortgage interest rates, and rental rates, were 0.8 percent below the national average in the third quarter, up from 2.3 percent below the national average in the second quarter.
The cost of utilities in Cochise County was 10.8 percent below the national average in the third quarter of 2011, down from 9.8 percent below the national average in the second quarter.
Transportation costs, which include gasoline and automobile maintenance, were 10.1 percent higher than the national average in the third quarter of 2011. This was down from 11.2 percent higher than the national average in the second quarter.
Healthcare costs in Cochise County were 0.3 percent above the national average in the third quarter of 2011. This was up from 3.7 percent below the national average in the second quarter.
The local cost of miscellaneous goods and services was 0.4 percent above the national average in the third quarter of 2011. This was down from 2.6 percent above the national average in the second quarter.
Statewide, there were six places participating in the ACCRA Cost of Living Index in the third quarter of the year. In addition to Cochise County, other participating areas were Flagstaff, Lake Havasu City-Kingman, Phoenix, Prescott-Prescott Valley, and Tucson. Of these, only Tucson and Phoenix had an overall cost of living that was lower than Cochise County. The highest cost of living in Arizona was in Flagstaff, which was 12.4 percent above the national average.
The ACCRA Cost of Living Index data for Cochise County are collected by the Cochise College Center for Economic Research and submitted to the Council for Community and Economic Research for inclusion in the index. Cochise County's participation is sponsored by the Sierra Vista Economic Development Foundation, which covers the cost of data collection.
Dr. Robert Carreira is director of the Center for Economic Research at Cochise College. If you have any questions on the economy, please contact the CER at (520) 515-5486 or by email at cer@cochise.edu. Check out the CER's website at www.cochise.edu/cer.
ACCRA COST OF LIVING INDEX, 3RD QUARTER 2011 | |||||||
| Area | Composite Index | Grocery Items | Housing | Utilities | Transportation | Health Care | Misc. Goods & Services |
| Flagstaff Metro | 112.4 | 110.0 | 142.2 | 92.8 | 98.7 | 102.4 | 98.4 |
| Lake Havasu City-Kingman Micro | 108.9 | 107.0 | 126.2 | 92.9 | 93.5 | 99.6 | 105.1 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale Metro | 94.5 | 99.8 | 87.5 | 98.8 | 100.0 | 103.6 | 94.5 |
| Prescott Metro | 100.3 | 104.0 | 112.5 | 93.1 | 89.5 | 100.5 | 93.5 |
| Sierra Vista-Douglas Micro* | 99.1 | 95.1 | 99.2 | 89.2 | 110.1 | 100.3 | 100.4 |
| Tucson Metro | 95.4 | 98.5 | 86.3 | 88.5 | 100.7 | 104.9 | 101.6 |
| * The Sierra Vista-Douglas Micropolitan Area is a statistical area designation for all of Cochise County. Sierra Vista and Douglas are included in the title since they are the principal cities that meet the criteria for establishing Cochise County as a Micropolitan Statistical Area. Note. The average for all participating places nationwide equals 100; each participant's index is read as a percentage of the average for all places. Source: The Council for Community and Economic Research, ACCRA Cost of Living Index | |||||||
# # #
No comments:
Post a Comment