Cost of Living

Anyone can agree that cost of living is relative. If you lived in Manhattan, Raleigh is going to look like a huge bargain. But if you’re from a small coastal village in Costa Rica (very cool, by the way), then our prices may be more than what you’re used to.

To standardize this, ACCRA created its cost of living index. Over the many years of its existence, this index has become one of the most trusted measures of comparing the cost of cities throughout the United States. The gist is this: a score below 100 means the community is less expensive than the average US city. And a score above 100 means it is more expensive. The further away from 100 (either higher or lower) just means it will be a more noticeable difference.

	Composite Index	Grocery Items	Housing	Utilities	Trans.	Health Care	Misc. Goods & Services
Raleigh*	92.2	103.5	69.3	105.3	97.6	101.5	99.2
Atlanta, GA	96.6	100.3	87.8	91.6	103.4	105.2	100.3
Austin, TX	93.1	89.6	84.8	94.2	96.1	100.2	99.2
Baltimore, MD	114.2	107.6	156.6	103.0	98.4	98.7	93.3
Charlotte, NC	94.7	98.2	82.9	102.0	98.8	100.6	98.5
Denver, CO	103.2	99.9	113.4	99.8	89.2	102.5	102.6
Jacksonville, FL	96.2	100.6	82.0	103.8	111.0	88.8	99.3
Minneapolis, MN	108.6	108.3	119.8	98.1	98.6	98.3	107.9
Nashville-Franklin, TN	88.7	96.3	72.7	87.5	99.6	81.7	96.1
Orlando, FL	97.2	102.7	80.1	107.5	96.6	94.0	107.4
Richmond, VA	102.1	101.4	89.0	107.4	100.4	113.9	110.8
San Diego, CA	130.2	106.7	197.9	96.8	111.8	111.1	103.8
St. Louis, MO	91.4	92.4	73.0	111.2	96.5	104.0	96.4

*The Raleigh-Cary MSA is used as a proxy for the City of Raleigh.