Cost of Living

In almost any other year, the challenge of addressing cost-of-living factors in Missouri is to maintain a sense of humility and not appear boastful. 

Consider the Show-Me State humbled.

Long a redoubt against the soaring costs that have been standard-issue facts of life on the coasts, residents of Missouri are feeling the pain of the worst inflationary period in America in more than 40 years. With prices up more than 9 percent year-over-year as of July—and produce prices up even, more, topping 11 percent—there’s little solace in suggesting that “at least it’s not as bad here as it is in . . .”

According to congressional estimates, neighboring Illinois has costs up 14.47 percent since the start of 2021. Or Texas, where things are even worse, with a national high of 14.91 percent.

Still, the 13.75 percent reading that ties Missouri for 20th nationwide is definitely taking a bite out of incomes in the Show-Me State. Worse, in fact, than they’re feeling in California and Hawaii (both at 12.41 percent), New York (11.35 percent), or Connecticut (11.06 percent). 

However, some perspective is in order: In years past, all of those states with rates lower than Missouri’s increase since 2021 have been off-the-charts expensive by comparison. That remains the case in 2022—costs here may have surged more over the short term but from a sharply lower base.

The bottom line: It remains more affordable here—by a considerable margin—than you’ll find in most any other state that boasts the types of cultural, educational, healthcare, and entertainment options you’ll find in Missouri. Yes, it may be cheaper to live in North Dakota, but you’ll wake up each day in … well, North Dakota. This is not to pick a fight with our neighboring plainsmen to the north, but there are reasons Missouri’s population is eight times that of the Peace Garden State.

The bigger concern for policy-makers in this environment is the inflationary impact, especially on working families. Here, again, Missouri ranks closer to the middle of the pack by those congressional estimates, which suggest the impact of that inflationary surge on a typical household in this state works out to $8,788. 

That’s not an insignificant amount for any household, but it’s well down from the five-figure bite being taken out of household budgets in the nation’s capital, Colorado and Utah.

D.C., in fact, topped the country with added costs of more than $1,000 a month over the past 18 months— $12,243 on an annualized basis.

There are a couple of reasons why increased cost-of-living metrics show up more prominently here. Housing, for one. While the entire nation has seen prices for single-family homes and rentals absolutely explode since the pandemic, the increases in Missouri distort what had long been a source of pride—affordable living. Another off-the-chart expense, gasoline, has had more of a per-household bite here because we burn more of it, driving more than folks do in a lot of densely populated eastern states with more sophisticated public transit. 

How does that all shake out? Current indices that score the comparative costs for housing, transportation, health care, groceries, utilities, and miscellaneous goods—where a score of 100 equals the national average—have Missouri very nearly bringing up the rear, at No. 47, and a score of 87.1. Even after what we’ve been through since 2021 dawned, that kind of affordability is less than half the cost of living for No. 1 Hawaii, with a composite score of 192.9, and well below states like California (No. 2, at 151.7) or New York (No. 3, at 139.1).

So, yes, things cost more here this year. They cost more everywhere. 

In the final analysis, though, it’s considerably cheaper to live in Missouri than almost any other state—including, oddly, one tied for No. 23 at 98.8, North Dakota).