According to the ACCRA Cost of Living Index, the cost of living in Cochise County was 2.8 percent lower than the national average in the third quarter of 2009. This is a reversal from the second quarter when the local cost of living was 0.1 percent above the national average. The report, released in October, provides comparative data for 315 urban areas in all 50 states.
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The cost of living in Cochise County in the third quarter was slightly lower than in Tucson—a continuation of the trend that began in the second quarter of the year. Last year and into the first quarter of this year, the local cost of living was higher than in Tucson. In the third quarter, the local cost of living was 1.3 percent lower than Tucson—a widening of the gap from the second quarter when local prices were only 0.8 percent lower than Tucson. The primary reason for the widening of the gap was a relative decline in the local cost of groceries, housing, and health care.
In the third quarter, the cost of living in Cochise County was 0.9 percent above that of Phoenix—the same gap as in the second quarter of the year.
The reason for the decrease in the cost of living in Cochise County from the second to the third quarter, relative to the national average, was a relative decrease in the cost of groceries, housing, utilities, healthcare, and miscellaneous goods and services. These were partially offset by a relative increase in the cost of transportation related expenditures.
Grocery items, which were 0.3 percent above the national average in the second quarter, fell to 1.6 percent below the national average in the third quarter. This is a reversal of the historical trend, which has seen local grocery prices consistently above the national average.
Housing costs, which include home prices and rental rates, also decreased from the second to the third quarter, relative to national averages. In the second quarter, the cost of housing in Cochise County was 5.6 percent above the national average. In the third quarter, local housing costs dropped to only 1 percent above the national average.
In the second quarter, the local cost of utilities was 4.5 percent below the national average. In the third quarter, local costs fell to 5 percent below the national average.
Health care costs in Cochise County declined considerably relative to the rest of the nation. In the second quarter, health care costs in Cochise County were 2.4 percent below the national average. In the third quarter, this fell to 5.2 percent below the national average. In previous years, the local cost of health care was consistently above the national average.
The cost of miscellaneous goods and services in Cochise County also decreased relative to national averages from the second to the third quarter. In the second quarter, the local cost was 4 percent below the national average. This dropped to 7.5 percent below the national average in the third quarter.
Transportation, which includes gasoline and automobile maintenance, was the only category of expenditures to see an increase relative to national averages. Local transportation costs in the second quarter were 2.5 percent above the national average. This increased slightly to 2.7 percent in the third quarter.
Statewide, there were six places participating in the ACCRA Cost of Living Index in the third quarter. In addition to Cochise County, other participating areas were Flagstaff, Phoenix, Prescott-Prescott Valley, Tucson, and Yuma. Of these, only Phoenix had an overall cost of living that was lower than Cochise County. This was attributable to lower costs in Phoenix for housing and utilities. The highest cost of living in Arizona was in Flagstaff, which was 13.3 percent above the national average.
ACCRA Cost of Living Index data for Cochise County are listed under the Sierra Vista-Douglas Micropolitan Area, which is a statistical designation for all of Cochise County. Sierra Vista and Douglas are included in the title since they are the principal cities that meet the criteria for establishing Cochise County as a micropolitan statistical area. To qualify as a micropolitan statistical area, a location must be economically integrated and have at least one urban area with a population of at least 10,000, but less than 50,000.
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. If you have any questions on the economy, please contact the CER at (520) 515-5486 or by email at cer@cochise.edu. Check out the CER’s website at www.cochise.edu/cer.
ACCRA COST OF LIVING INDEX, 3rd QUARTER 2009
Area Composite Index Grocery Items Housing Utilities Transportation Health Care Misc. Goods
& Services
Flagstaff Metro 113.3 106.6 154.2 92.4 99.1 101.6 92.4
Phoenix-Mesa-
Scottsdale Metro 96.3 102.1 90.1 88.8 106.7 98.4 98.0
Prescott Metro 105.6 97.4 120.9 93.1 103.2 97.4 100.7
Sierra Vista-
Douglas Micro* 97.2 98.4 101.0 95.0 102.7 94.8 92.5
Tucson Metro 98.5 99.8 92.0 88.6 105.2 99.3 104.5
Yuma Metro 103.8 111.5 104.5 106.2 104.8 101.1 99.6
* The Sierra Vista-Douglas Micropolitan Area is a statistical area designation for all of Cochise County. Sierra Vista and Douglas are included in the title since they are the principal cities that meet the criteria for establishing Cochise County as a Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Note. The average for all participating places nationwide equals 100; each participant’s index is read as a percentage of the average for all places.
Source: The Council for Community and Economic Research, ACCRA Cost of Living Index
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