Who has the least expensive groceries?

Every quarter, the ARCC compiles local data for Warren and Washington Counties that is included in a national Cost of Living Index by the Council for Community and Economic Research. Our region is one of 318 metropolitan areas that participates in this quarterly cost of living index where the average across the US is 100. For the secord quarter of 2008, our region scored a 108.8 with 100 being the average. The index measures the relative costs of groceries, housing, utilities, transportation, health care and miscellaneous goods and services.

The highest cost of living in the national according to this survey goes to Manhattan, NY, with a 220.3 score. The lowest is 86.2 in Palestine-Anderson County, Texas. For a regional comparison, the Plattsburgh NY metro scores 103.6; the Ithaca, NY metro scores 104.9; Burlington, VT scores 116; and Pittsfield, Massachusetts, scores at 100.9.

Who has the least expensive groceries? For this past quarter, the Council paid particular attention to identifying those communities with the most and least expensive groceries as measured by the grocery index number. The Council collects data on 26 separate items to represent the grocery component of the index. Our region scored a 99.1 on the grocery index which is just a fraction below the national average score of 100. The highest grocery index is 154.3 in Kodiak, Alaska, with the lowest at 81.5 in Dyersburg, Tennessee.