Missouri had the 11th lowest cost of living in the United States for 2016. 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. The Missouri cost of living index for 2016 was 90.8, down from the 2015 annual index of 91.5.
Cities across the nation participate in the Council for Community & Economic Research (C2ER) survey on a voluntary basis. Price information in the survey is governed by C2ER collection guidelines.
Composite Cost of Living (Scaled)
2016 Annual Average
| Annual 2016 Cost of Living | ||||||||
| State | Rank | Index | Grocery | Housing | Utilities | Transportation | Heath | Misc. |
| Mississippi | 1 | 86.0 | 94.1 | 68.4 | 89.6 | 93.1 | 89.9 | 93.2 |
| Indiana | 2 | 87.9 | 92.4 | 75.8 | 91.1 | 91.6 | 94.9 | 92.9 |
| Michigan | 3 | 88.2 | 89.6 | 77.1 | 95.5 | 97.6 | 93.3 | 91.0 |
| Arkansas | 4 | 88.5 | 92.7 | 77.7 | 97.1 | 89.1 | 87.8 | 92.8 |
| Oklahoma | 5 | 88.6 | 93.0 | 76.7 | 94.9 | 88.1 | 93.6 | 94.1 |
| Idaho | 6 | 89.6 | 85.4 | 77.8 | 89.0 | 106.1 | 101.9 | 94.8 |
| Tennessee | 7 | 89.8 | 92.7 | 77.5 | 91.8 | 89.9 | 90.0 | 97.5 |
| Kansas | 8 | 90.4 | 93.6 | 77.4 | 97.3 | 92.5 | 97.1 | 96.1 |
| Texas | 9 | 90.7 | 89.5 | 84.5 | 95.4 | 93.7 | 95.2 | 93.4 |
| Kentucky | 10 | 90.8 | 88.9 | 80.5 | 93.4 | 97.4 | 88.7 | 97.3 |
| Missouri | 11 | 90.8 | 96.7 | 75.4 | 103.4 | 93.4 | 97.4 | 95.5 |
| Alabama | 12 | 91.2 | 97.7 | 74.0 | 106.1 | 92.9 | 87.5 | 98.0 |
| Nebraska | 13 | 91.3 | 96.2 | 85.3 | 87.0 | 93.8 | 97.8 | 93.7 |
| Georgia | 14 | 91.4 | 99.1 | 75.8 | 96.1 | 93.3 | 98.1 | 98.0 |
| Iowa | 15 | 91.7 | 95.3 | 81.4 | 95.4 | 96.7 | 97.8 | 95.2 |
| Wyoming | 16 | 91.7 | 98.8 | 84.0 | 98.4 | 101.1 | 99.6 | 89.7 |
| Utah | 17 | 92.8 | 96.2 | 87.4 | 85.2 | 106.9 | 90.2 | 94.2 |
| Ohio | 18 | 93.0 | 101.0 | 78.9 | 91.0 | 101.4 | 94.8 | 99.1 |
| North Carolina | 19 | 94.2 | 99.3 | 82.0 | 96.9 | 93.7 | 104.8 | 99.9 |
| Louisiana | 20 | 94.4 | 96.6 | 88.3 | 91.2 | 94.6 | 96.7 | 98.8 |
| Illinois | 21 | 95.5 | 96.6 | 90.2 | 95.4 | 103.3 | 100.0 | 96.6 |
| West Virginia | 22 | 95.7 | 101.1 | 91.0 | 87.9 | 96.4 | 91.7 | 99.9 |
| New Mexico | 23 | 95.7 | 105.2 | 92.4 | 90.2 | 99.5 | 100.0 | 94.7 |
| Wisconsin | 24 | 96.9 | 99.2 | 89.1 | 100.2 | 103.2 | 112.4 | 97.7 |
| Arizona | 25 | 98.1 | 100.8 | 97.2 | 97.8 | 99.9 | 100.0 | 97.1 |
| North Dakota | 26 | 98.9 | 104.4 | 96.6 | 84.7 | 98.7 | 112.1 | 101.3 |
| Florida | 27 | 99.0 | 102.0 | 94.8 | 104.1 | 100.4 | 97.4 | 99.5 |
| Virginia | 28 | 100.2 | 95.2 | 106.7 | 101.0 | 92.3 | 100.8 | 98.9 |
| South Carolina | 29 | 100.5 | 104.3 | 91.1 | 106.7 | 93.2 | 102.9 | 106.4 |
| Montana | 30 | 100.8 | 100.3 | 108.1 | 91.4 | 100.9 | 104.3 | 97.6 |
| Minnesota | 31 | 101.1 | 103.1 | 95.4 | 92.4 | 96.9 | 108.8 | 107.7 |
| Colorado | 32 | 102.1 | 100.7 | 112.6 | 84.8 | 98.1 | 105.6 | 100.1 |
| Delaware | 33 | 102.6 | 106.6 | 94.7 | 108.8 | 96.9 | 98.6 | 107.4 |
| South Dakota | 34 | 102.8 | 100.1 | 119.8 | 99.6 | 96.3 | 95.8 | 94.0 |
| Pennsylvania | 35 | 102.8 | 102.7 | 103.5 | 114.4 | 109.2 | 90.3 | 98.6 |
| Nevada | 36 | 104.5 | 103.6 | 103.1 | 91.3 | 116.4 | 104.9 | 106.4 |
| Washington | 37 | 107.1 | 107.4 | 107.3 | 95.6 | 116.9 | 118.9 | 106.0 |
| Maine | 38 | 112.0 | 104.1 | 121.9 | 105.3 | 109.4 | 108.1 | 110.4 |
| Oregon | 39 | 115.4 | 106.8 | 135.6 | 90.8 | 114.0 | 104.7 | 111.5 |
| New Hampshire | 40 | 119.2 | 117.2 | 118.1 | 128.0 | 106.4 | 115.2 | 122.4 |
| New Jersey | 41 | 121.0 | 104.2 | 149.9 | 109.9 | 106.5 | 99.7 | 114.2 |
| Rhode Island | 42 | 122.1 | 106.8 | 138.1 | 138.8 | 101.4 | 107.4 | 118.1 |
| Vermont | 43 | 122.4 | 108.6 | 149.9 | 121.4 | 116.7 | 104.7 | 110.1 |
| Maryland | 44 | 125.0 | 113.3 | 176.9 | 102.5 | 106.3 | 92.3 | 104.0 |
| Connecticut | 45 | 130.7 | 128.3 | 157.0 | 115.9 | 113.6 | 116.8 | 121.5 |
| Alaska | 46 | 131.6 | 137.1 | 140.4 | 141.6 | 129.2 | 146.6 | 118.8 |
| Massachusetts | 47 | 134.7 | 111.6 | 175.0 | 127.2 | 108.9 | 121.7 | 122.6 |
| California | 48 | 134.8 | 115.8 | 192.7 | 112.3 | 130.1 | 108.4 | 107.5 |
| New York | 49 | 135.2 | 110.3 | 198.3 | 102.7 | 114.2 | 101.3 | 114.2 |
| District of Columbia | 50 | 149.2 | 117.4 | 234.6 | 118.7 | 104.3 | 98.5 | 121.3 |
| Hawaii | 51 | 167.4 | 155.0 | 230.3 | 206.5 | 134.1 | 114.8 | 126.6 |
| US Average | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100 | |
All participating Missouri cities had a composite index below the national average for 2016. Joplin, with an index of 86.9, had the lowest cost of living, while Columbia, with an index of 95.0, had the highest.
| Cost of Living Indices for Participating Missouri Cities, 2016 Annual Average | |||||||
| Metro | Index | Grocery | Housing | Utilities | Transportation | Health | Misc. |
| Joplin MO | 86.9 | 90.6 | 68.6 | 121.1 | 93.8 | 91.3 | 87.6 |
| Springfield MO | 88.3 | 93.8 | 72.2 | 98.2 | 90.4 | 97.9 | 94.4 |
| St. Louis MO-IL | 90.4 | 103.2 | 70.5 | 112.8 | 94.2 | 96.3 | 92.9 |
| Missouri | 90.8 | 96.7 | 75.4 | 103.4 | 93.4 | 97.4 | 95.5 |
| Jefferson City MO | 91.2 | 95.0 | 75.5 | 100.3 | 95.1 | 100.1 | 97.4 |
| Kansas City MO-KS | 93.1 | 99.9 | 81.8 | 83.7 | 95.1 | 97.0 | 101.0 |
| Columbia MO | 95.0 | 97.8 | 83.9 | 104.5 | 92.0 | 101.5 | 99.9 |
| US Average | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
See http://www.c2er.org/ for details and more data products.