Missouri had the sixth lowest cost of living in the United States for the 2023. 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 third quarter 2023 was 88.5.
Cities across the nation participate in the Council for Community & Economic Research (C2ER) survey on a volunteer basis. Price information in the survey is governed by C2ER collection guidelines which strive for uniformity.
2023 Annual Average Cost of Living
| Rank | State | Index | Grocery | Housing | Utilities | Transportation | Health | Misc. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma | 86.2 | 94.4 | 68.5 | 98.2 | 92.6 | 92.6 | 91.3 |
| 2 | Mississippi | 86.3 | 97.2 | 70.9 | 86.0 | 87.7 | 98.4 | 92.5 |
| 3 | Kansas | 87.1 | 97.2 | 67.4 | 106.6 | 90.1 | 96.9 | 91.8 |
| 4 | West Virginia | 87.7 | 98.4 | 66.9 | 95.7 | 94.0 | 96.6 | 95.0 |
| 5 | Alabama | 88.3 | 96.1 | 70.0 | 102.4 | 90.8 | 87.0 | 95.8 |
| 6 | Missouri | 88.5 | 95.3 | 77.0 | 98.6 | 90.9 | 89.9 | 91.5 |
| 7 | Arkansas | 89.0 | 95.3 | 74.6 | 91.6 | 89.6 | 87.5 | 97.7 |
| 8 | Tennessee | 90.3 | 97.7 | 82.4 | 92.6 | 88.7 | 88.1 | 93.9 |
| 9 | Iowa | 90.3 | 96.6 | 74.1 | 95.5 | 98.6 | 99.4 | 95.9 |
| 10 | Michigan | 90.6 | 98.8 | 77.1 | 101.1 | 96.7 | 93.3 | 93.1 |
| 11 | Georgia | 90.8 | 98.1 | 78.2 | 85.5 | 93.5 | 100.3 | 97.3 |
| 12 | Nebraska | 90.9 | 95.8 | 78.6 | 85.7 | 100.0 | 97.9 | 96.4 |
| 13 | Louisiana | 91.0 | 95.0 | 81.6 | 84.0 | 95.8 | 98.7 | 96.5 |
| 14 | Indiana | 91.0 | 98.5 | 75.8 | 106.7 | 95.4 | 96.4 | 94.4 |
| 15 | Kentucky | 92.0 | 101.3 | 73.7 | 104.4 | 92.0 | 83.7 | 101.3 |
| 16 | Illinois | 92.1 | 98.0 | 79.8 | 88.6 | 103.0 | 95.0 | 96.8 |
| 17 | South Dakota | 92.4 | 97.0 | 87.1 | 87.5 | 97.4 | 97.9 | 93.7 |
| 18 | Wyoming | 92.4 | 102.3 | 80.0 | 87.6 | 94.4 | 100.1 | 98.0 |
| 19 | Texas | 92.7 | 95.7 | 83.1 | 104.0 | 91.8 | 93.9 | 96.4 |
| 20 | New Mexico | 94.0 | 96.4 | 87.3 | 93.1 | 94.7 | 99.3 | 97.9 |
| 21 | Minnesota | 94.1 | 98.2 | 82.1 | 93.4 | 97.2 | 109.2 | 99.5 |
| 22 | North Dakota | 94.6 | 94.2 | 83.4 | 99.2 | 99.3 | 111.2 | 99.2 |
| 23 | Ohio | 94.7 | 101.4 | 81.2 | 99.2 | 100.4 | 97.9 | 99.5 |
| 24 | Wisconsin | 95.1 | 99.2 | 84.7 | 102.2 | 97.9 | 112.3 | 96.9 |
| 25 | South Carolina | 95.3 | 99.2 | 86.5 | 106.5 | 90.8 | 94.5 | 99.5 |
| 26 | North Carolina | 95.3 | 98.1 | 90.2 | 94.5 | 91.8 | 108.1 | 97.9 |
| 27 | Pennsylvania | 95.6 | 99.5 | 81.9 | 107.3 | 105.6 | 94.3 | 99.3 |
| 28 | Idaho | 98.6 | 101.0 | 96.0 | 85.7 | 105.2 | 98.9 | 101.0 |
| 29 | Florida | 100.7 | 99.5 | 106.3 | 97.3 | 99.3 | 96.5 | 98.4 |
| 30 | Nevada | 101.0 | 102.9 | 107.4 | 99.1 | 116.6 | 91.7 | 91.6 |
| 31 | Delaware | 101.1 | 102.0 | 97.0 | 97.9 | 102.1 | 103.2 | 104.5 |
| 32 | Virginia | 101.9 | 100.6 | 105.7 | 104.3 | 94.8 | 102.2 | 101.0 |
| 33 | Montana | 102.9 | 102.5 | 103.8 | 92.8 | 109.0 | 97.7 | 103.8 |
| 34 | Utah | 103.2 | 99.3 | 110.7 | 94.9 | 105.1 | 91.0 | 101.9 |
| 35 | Colorado | 105.1 | 101.4 | 113.6 | 91.3 | 105.2 | 100.4 | 103.8 |
| 36 | Arizona | 108.4 | 102.2 | 124.1 | 95.3 | 106.1 | 93.8 | 104.1 |
| 37 | Maine | 109.9 | 101.8 | 117.4 | 106.7 | 109.0 | 102.9 | 109.3 |
| 38 | Rhode Island | 110.7 | 101.7 | 116.8 | 112.4 | 92.5 | 107.7 | 115.3 |
| 39 | Connecticut | 112.8 | 101.7 | 122.6 | 130.4 | 100.4 | 108.7 | 109.5 |
| 40 | New Jersey | 113.9 | 102.6 | 135.8 | 108.3 | 104.7 | 99.3 | 107.1 |
| 41 | New Hampshire | 114.1 | 102.0 | 109.5 | 131.0 | 109.9 | 113.2 | 120.2 |
| 42 | Oregon | 114.7 | 108.8 | 136.3 | 95.9 | 116.6 | 105.3 | 104.9 |
| 43 | Vermont | 115.3 | 104.8 | 133.1 | 120.8 | 106.9 | 106.0 | 107.5 |
| 44 | Washington | 116.0 | 109.8 | 128.7 | 92.1 | 123.3 | 120.4 | 111.3 |
| 45 | Maryland | 116.5 | 106.4 | 146.4 | 110.7 | 98.3 | 97.4 | 105.9 |
| 46 | Alaska | 125.2 | 123.5 | 122.5 | 157.9 | 115.3 | 148.1 | 119.7 |
| 47 | New York | 125.9 | 103.2 | 176.0 | 103.1 | 106.0 | 106.4 | 108.8 |
| 48 | California | 138.5 | 112.0 | 198.8 | 126.8 | 125.6 | 108.5 | 110.8 |
| 49 | Massachusetts | 146.5 | 105.3 | 218.5 | 133.9 | 117.5 | 112.9 | 121.6 |
| 50 | District of Columbia | 146.8 | 105.4 | 237.7 | 110.6 | 105.5 | 110.0 | 116.6 |
| 51 | Hawaii | 180.3 | 116.7 | 313.1 | 151.3 | 135.0 | 123.1 | 126.8 |
| 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 2023. The city with the lowest cost of living index for this time period was Joplin with an index of 84.1 The city with the highest cost of living was Kansas City, with an index of 93.7.
Cost of Living Indices for Participating Missouri Cities - Annual Average 2023
| Metro | Index | Grocery | Housing | Utilities | Transport. | Health | Misc. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joplin, Mo | 84.1 | 92.7 | 60.2 | 108.9 | 92.5 | 88.5 | 90.7 |
| Springfield, MO | 84.8 | 94.1 | 72.3 | 80.3 | 89.8 | 94.9 | 89.4 |
| Missouri | 88.5 | 93.4 | 66.3 | 94.6 | 91.2 | 91.7 | 90.1 |
| St. Louis MO-IL | 88.9 | 96.9 | 75.8 | 101.7 | 93.5 | 88.7 | 91.5 |
| Columbia, MO | 90.9 | 96.4 | 83.3 | 93.0 | 89.6 | 92.9 | 94.5 |
| Kansas City MO-KS | 93.7 | 96.5 | 93.3 | 109.0 | 88.9 | 84.4 | 91.5 |
| US Average | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
See https://www.c2er.org/ for details and more data products.