According to the ACCRA Cost of Living Index, the cost of living in Cochise County remained below the national average in the first quarter of 2011, although costs rose from last year relative to other areas. The report, released this month, provides comparative data for 312 urban areas in all 50 states.
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The data indicate Cochise County’s cost of living in the first quarter of 2011 was 0.7 percent lower than the average for all participating places nationwide. This was up from 2010 annual data, when local costs were 2.2 percent lower than the national average.
The cost of living in Cochise County in the first quarter was 5.2 percent higher than Tucson and 3.2 percent higher than Phoenix. Last year, the local cost of living was 1.5 percent higher than Tucson, but 2.8 percent lower than Phoenix. The higher cost of living in Cochise County than in Tucson in the first quarter was attributable to higher local costs for housing and utilities. In comparison to Phoenix, the overall higher cost locally was due to higher costs for housing and miscellaneous goods and services.
In the first quarter of 2011, all categories of cost were lower in Cochise County than nationwide except housing and transportation. Housing costs, which include home prices, mortgage interest rates, and rental rates, declined considerably in 2010 relative to the national average, but increased slightly in the first quarter of 2011. In 2010, local costs were 0.6 percent below the national average; this rose to 0.9 percent above the national average in the first quarter.
Transportation costs, which include gasoline and automobile maintenance, were 4.7 percent higher than the national average in the first quarter of 2011. This was up from 4 percent above the national average last year.
Local grocery costs were 6 percent below the national average in the first quarter of 2011, down from 3.5 percent below in 2010. The downward trend in local grocery prices began several years ago. In 2007, grocery prices 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 2.6 percent below the national average in the first quarter of 2011. This was up from 2010, when local healthcare costs were 4.1 percent below the national average.
The local cost of miscellaneous goods and services was 0.5 percent below the national average in the first quarter of 2011. This was up from 4.5 percent below the national average in 2010.
The cost of utilities in Cochise County was 3.4 percent below the national average in the first quarter of 2011, down from 2.6 percent below in 2010.
Statewide, there were six places participating in the ACCRA Cost of Living Index in the first quarter of the year. In addition to Cochise County, other participating areas were Flagstaff, Phoenix, Prescott-Prescott Valley, Tucson, and Yuma. Of these, only Tucson and Phoenix had an overall cost of living that was lower than Cochise County. The highest cost of living in Arizona was in Flagstaff, which was 15.2 percent above the national average.
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.
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