Missouri, Kansas hold low in cost of living

The Midwest proved strong in low cost of living in 2020. Missouri and Kansas were among the strongest, each falling within the top six. Missouri stood at 89.4 on the index while neighboring Kansas at 87.5.

Not for the first time, Missouri had one of the lowest cost-of-living ratings in the U.S. for the third quarter of 2020.

The Show-Me State had the fifth-lowest rating, according to the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center’s cost-of-living index, at 88.9. What’s more, Missouri has been in the top 10 for lowest cost of living in the nation for the past 15 quarters.

Illinois ranked No. 23 on the list with an index of 95.8, MERIC said.

Mississippi topped the list with an index of 84.4, and Hawaii was last with 196.3.

“In general, the most expensive areas to live were Hawaii, Alaska, the Northeast, and the West Coast,” MERIC said in the report. “The least expensive areas were the Midwest and Southern states.”

MERIC creates the index for each state using the average indices — such as grocery, housing, utilities, transportation and health care costs — from participating cities and metro areas.