“Local cost of living below national average in 2010”

According to the ACCRA Cost of Living Index, the cost of living in Cochise County was below the national average in 2010. The report, released this month, provides comparative data for 318 urban areas in all 50 states.    

The Council for Community and Economic Research in Arlington, VA administers the ACCRA Cost of Living Index, which measures relative price levels for consumer goods and services in participating areas. The average for all participating places nationwide equals 100 and each participant’s index is read as a percentage of the average for all places. The ACCRA index includes separate weighted sub-indices for grocery items, housing, utilities, transportation, healthcare, and miscellaneous goods and services.

The Cost of Living Index data indicate Cochise County’s cost of living in 2010 was 2.2 percent lower than the average for all participating places nationwide. This was down from 2009, when the cost of living locally was only 0.8 percent below the national average, and 2008, which saw local prices 0.2 percent above the national average. 

Housing costs, which include home prices and rental rates, declined considerably in 2010 relative to national averages. In 2007, the cost of housing in Cochise County was 5.4 percent below the national average. This rose to 3.1 percent above the national average in 2008 and 4.1 percent above the national average in 2009. In 2010, the trend reversed with local costs falling to 0.6 percent below national averages. 

Local grocery costs were 3.5 percent below national averages in 2010, a reversal from recent years. In 2007 groceries in Cochise County were 5.5 percent above the national average. This fell to 4.9 percent above in 2008 and 0.3 percent above in 2009.

Healthcare costs in Cochise County were 4.1 percent below the national average in 2010, down from 2.6 percent below in 2009. In 2008, local healthcare costs were 0.5 percent higher than nationally.

The local cost of miscellaneous goods and services was 4.5 percent below the national average in 2010. This was up from 2009, which saw local miscellaneous goods and services priced 5.3 percent below national averages.

The cost of utilities in Cochise County was 2.6 percent below the national average in 2010. This was up from 2009, which saw local costs 5.7 percent lower than nationally.

The ACCRA Cost of Living Index data for Cochise County are collected by the Cochise College Center for Economic Research and submitted to the Council for Community and Economic Research for inclusion in the index.

Cochise County’s participation is sponsored by the Sierra Vista Economic Development Foundation, which covers the cost of data collection -- Robert Carreira, Ph.D. is director of the Center for Economic Research at Cochise College.