In the first quarter of 2013, Missouri had the 12th lowest cost of living in the United States. In general, the most expensive areas to live are New England, Alaska, Hawaii, and the West Coast. The least expensive areas continue to be the Midwest and Southern States.
MERIC derives the cost of living index for each state by averaging the indices of participating cities and metropolitan areas in that state. Missouri's cost of living through the first quarter of 2013 was 92.7, down from the annual review 2012 index of 93.0.
Cities across the nation participate in ACCRA's survey on a volunteer basis. Price information in the survey is governed by ACCRA collection guidelines which strive for uniformity.
| First Quarter 2013 Cost of Living | ||||||||
| State | Rank | Index | Grocery | Housing | Utilities | Transportation | Heath | Misc |
| Oklahoma | 1 | 90.4 | 93.2 | 81.1 | 92.2 | 94.4 | 94.6 | 94.3 |
| Tennessee | 2 | 90.6 | 95.1 | 79.3 | 89.1 | 94.0 | 92.0 | 97.1 |
| Kentucky | 3 | 91.2 | 92.4 | 79.4 | 95.7 | 95.8 | 95.9 | 96.6 |
| Idaho | 4 | 91.2 | 94.4 | 78.5 | 94.1 | 97.5 | 97.9 | 96.2 |
| Nebraska | 5 | 91.4 | 95.8 | 82.5 | 97.1 | 95.2 | 93.7 | 93.5 |
| Indiana | 6 | 91.5 | 94.7 | 81.5 | 88.0 | 97.5 | 98.7 | 96.2 |
| Arkansas | 7 | 91.6 | 94.9 | 83.6 | 92.9 | 93.9 | 88.8 | 95.9 |
| Kansas | 8 | 91.6 | 90.7 | 83.5 | 91.2 | 95.0 | 94.2 | 97.3 |
| Texas | 9 | 92.0 | 90.7 | 84.6 | 95.1 | 95.9 | 96.6 | 95.7 |
| Mississippi | 10 | 92.4 | 94.1 | 81.0 | 102.5 | 95.5 | 91.4 | 96.9 |
| Utah | 11 | 92.7 | 97.8 | 81.4 | 87.0 | 99.6 | 92.3 | 99.2 |
| Missouri | 12 | 92.7 | 96.2 | 80.9 | 103.9 | 95.3 | 97.1 | 95.9 |
| Alabama | 13 | 93.0 | 99.5 | 79.4 | 103.5 | 95.1 | 88.2 | 98.2 |
| Ohio | 14 | 93.7 | 98.7 | 83.3 | 97.6 | 99.3 | 95.5 | 96.7 |
| Georgia | 15 | 93.7 | 99.5 | 82.4 | 98.2 | 98.3 | 94.9 | 97.5 |
| Iowa | 16 | 94.2 | 94.9 | 90.9 | 90.6 | 98.2 | 96.4 | 96.1 |
| Nevada | 17 | 95.0 | 102.0 | 88.9 | 82.3 | 104.5 | 101.4 | 96.8 |
| Michigan | 18 | 95.2 | 93.8 | 87.4 | 103.6 | 101.6 | 95.6 | 97.2 |
| South Carolina | 19 | 96.0 | 104.5 | 82.6 | 105.1 | 96.4 | 98.7 | 100.3 |
| Virginia | 20 | 96.3 | 96.3 | 93.6 | 98.1 | 94.8 | 98.8 | 98.1 |
| Louisiana | 21 | 96.3 | 97.1 | 94.1 | 90.7 | 96.6 | 97.8 | 99.2 |
| North Carolina | 22 | 96.3 | 103.4 | 85.9 | 97.7 | 97.1 | 102.8 | 100.5 |
| Illinois | 23 | 96.4 | 96.8 | 89.9 | 100.4 | 104.1 | 99.8 | 96.8 |
| West Virginia | 24 | 96.8 | 93.5 | 97.1 | 98.7 | 102.4 | 97.3 | 95.0 |
| New Mexico | 25 | 97.1 | 97.0 | 96.4 | 90.5 | 97.3 | 96.0 | 100.0 |
| South Dakota | 26 | 97.9 | 101.5 | 95.4 | 92.7 | 93.3 | 98.6 | 101.9 |
| Wyoming | 27 | 98.0 | 106.2 | 98.8 | 98.7 | 87.5 | 96.9 | 97.8 |
| Wisconsin | 28 | 98.4 | 98.1 | 90.9 | 104.0 | 99.2 | 109.9 | 101.0 |
| Florida | 29 | 99.0 | 103.3 | 93.0 | 99.0 | 104.4 | 99.2 | 100.1 |
| North Dakota | 30 | 99.7 | 103.2 | 102.6 | 81.3 | 98.6 | 105.4 | 101.2 |
| Montana | 31 | 99.7 | 107.1 | 97.4 | 92.9 | 95.0 | 105.6 | 101.7 |
| Colorado | 32 | 100.0 | 98.8 | 105.3 | 93.3 | 99.1 | 101.8 | 98.4 |
| Pennsylvania | 33 | 101.5 | 103.2 | 97.4 | 111.9 | 102.4 | 96.2 | 101.3 |
| Minnesota | 34 | 101.7 | 102.8 | 97.9 | 102.4 | 101.0 | 106.1 | 104.0 |
| Arizona | 35 | 102.3 | 103.1 | 108.5 | 96.2 | 101.9 | 99.7 | 99.2 |
| Washington | 36 | 103.2 | 102.6 | 105.0 | 88.7 | 106.4 | 112.9 | 103.8 |
| Oregon | 37 | 107.0 | 99.0 | 117.5 | 97.6 | 112.1 | 114.5 | 101.5 |
| Delaware | 38 | 108.3 | 110.6 | 101.1 | 121.8 | 103.9 | 100.1 | 111.8 |
| Maine | 39 | 110.5 | 104.6 | 126.6 | 98.3 | 103.9 | 116.7 | 105.0 |
| New Hampshire | 40 | 119.8 | 100.3 | 128.2 | 125.7 | 104.2 | 115.1 | 125.7 |
| Vermont | 41 | 120.5 | 110.1 | 145.0 | 129.3 | 110.1 | 104.7 | 107.6 |
| Maryland | 42 | 122.5 | 112.8 | 176.2 | 109.3 | 103.3 | 100.3 | 96.3 |
| Massachusetts | 43 | 122.9 | 111.5 | 142.7 | 120.8 | 110.5 | 118.1 | 117.2 |
| Rhode Island | 44 | 124.1 | 110.5 | 133.0 | 130.0 | 105.9 | 116.0 | 128.7 |
| California | 45 | 125.8 | 110.3 | 176.5 | 107.9 | 110.2 | 106.3 | 104.2 |
| New Jersey | 46 | 130.4 | 107.8 | 174.8 | 134.6 | 106.8 | 106.7 | 113.6 |
| New York | 47 | 130.5 | 111.6 | 181.5 | 116.0 | 110.7 | 106.5 | 111.3 |
| Connecticut | 48 | 132.7 | 119.3 | 165.0 | 120.7 | 118.1 | 118.6 | 122.6 |
| Alaska | 49 | 134.0 | 134.4 | 146.8 | 167.6 | 115.1 | 140.2 | 118.6 |
| District of Columbia | 50 | 144.0 | 112.8 | 254.5 | 107.0 | 105.7 | 101.6 | 96.9 |
| Hawaii | 51 | 154.1 | 158.9 | 205.1 | 161.4 | 129.9 | 116.1 | 121.7 |
| Grand Total | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | |
| Cost of Living Indices for Participating Missouri Cities 1st Quarter 2013 | |||||||
| Metro | Index | Grocery | Housing | Utilities | Transportation | Health | Misc. |
| Springfield MO | 89.1 | 96.4 | 78.3 | 92.2 | 94.8 | 97.5 | 90.7 |
| Joplin MO | 89.5 | 92.5 | 76.3 | 118.2 | 95.4 | 96.5 | 86.8 |
| St. Louis MO-IL | 91.5 | 95.6 | 74.0 | 108.3 | 97.7 | 98.0 | 95.7 |
| Jefferson City MO | 92.2 | 95.8 | 79.8 | 98.2 | 91.7 | 93.9 | 99.1 |
| Missouri | 92.7 | 96.2 | 80.9 | 103.9 | 95.3 | 97.1 | 95.9 |
| Columbia MO | 94.2 | 95.9 | 83.4 | 99.6 | 93.1 | 99.8 | 100.3 |
| Kansas City MO-KS | 99.7 | 101.1 | 93.6 | 106.6 | 99.3 | 96.7 | 102.7 |
| US Average | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
*ACCRA has changed its name to C2ER. See http://www.c2er.org/ for details and more data products.
