The Kalamazoo-Portage Metro area is once again ranked high on the list of affordable cities in the nation according to the Cost of Living Index (COLI). Among the 265 urban areas that participated in the 2022 Cost of Living Index, the after-tax cost for a professional/managerial standard of living in Kalamazoo, Michigan, is more than 20 percent below the national average.
The COLI measures regional differences in the cost of consumer goods and services, excluding taxes and non-consumer expenditures, for professional and managerial households in the top income quintile. It is based on more than 90,000 prices covering 60 different items for which prices are collected quarterly by chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, and university applied economic centers in each participating urban area.
The composite index is based on six component categories – housing, utilities, grocery items, transportation, health care, and miscellaneous goods and services.
The Ten Least Expensive Urban Areas | 2022 Year-End
(National Average for 265 Urban Areas = 100)
1 – Harlingen, TX – 77.1
2 – Kalamazoo, MI – 77.5
3 – Muskogee, OK – 78.3
4 – McAllen, TX – 79.4
5 – Decatur, IL – 80.1
6 – Tupelo, MS – 81.4
7 – Joplin, MO – 82.0
8 – Topeka, KS – 82.5
9 – Salina, KS – 82.7
10 – Richmond, IN – 82.9
The Ten Most Expensive Urban Areas | 2022 Year-End
1 – New York (Manhattan), NY – 227.7
2 – Honolulu, HI – 184.0
3 – San Francisco, CA – 178.6
4 – New York (Brooklyn), NY – 168.6
5 – Washington, DC – 152.2
6 – Orange County, CA – 151.2
7 – Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA – 150.6
8 – Seattle, WA – 149.9
9 – Boston, MA – 149.7
10 – Oakland, CA – 145.9
According to the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) who publishes this data, small differences should not be interpreted as showing a measurable difference. Data reflected in this report is based on an unweighted average of prices accumulated from the first three quarters in 2022.
For additional information on the Cost of Living Index or other COLI-related products such as the COLI Web Calculator and the COLI Historical Index, visit www.coli.org.
