pzium/Getty Images
- Of the 10 places on the list, Miami-Dade County is the most expensive urban area in Florida.
- Insider checked data from The Council for Community and Economic Research.
- Half of the 10 Florida cities on the list had a cost of living index higher than the national average.
Florida is the fastest growing state in the US and popular among retirees – it can also be quite expensive.
To find out how some of the largest cities in the popular Sunshine State stack up, Insider looked to the Council for Community and Economic Research’s cost of living index for various urban areas in America.
A press release from C2ER states, “The cost of living index measures regional differences in the cost of consumer goods and services, excluding taxes and non-consumer expenses, for professional and managerial households in the top income quintile.”
The press release continued, “Covering 61 different commodities, prices are collected quarterly by chambers of commerce, economic development organizations and university applied economic centers in each participating urban area.”
Insider looked at average prices from C2ER’s research and a comprehensive composite index, which is based on six different categories like housing and transportation, to see how expensive it is to live in Florida’s various large urban areas. Data is for the first quarter of 2023 from participating regions; There were 10 urban areas in Florida that had data available for this quarter.
An overall index of 100 for a city means that its cost of living is at par with the national average. While half of those 10 locations in Florida had scores above 100, the other five had scores below the national average.
With a composite index of 118.9, Miami was the most expensive of Florida’s 10 locations, but its cost of living is not as high as other places in the country. Based on C2ER’s index, none of the Florida cities listed appear in the top spot when ranking all 271 US locations with the index. The combined index of Manhattan, New York was the highest in the US in the first quarter of 2023 with an index of 222.0.
Note that the researchers attempted to compare similar offers from participants in the cities listed. For average apartment rents, the researchers looked at the 1-year lease for a 950-square-foot, two-bedroom apartment in a complex suitable for childless couples who make up the area’s top 20% of income, among other criteria. Doctor visits tend to measure the prices of the average fees charged to an uninsured and established patient. Certain criteria are also required to determine the price of the house, such as having a living area of 2,400 sq ft and being newly constructed.
Below is a breakdown of how expensive it can be to live in 10 urban areas of the Sunshine State. We also included some average prices of goods and services for the first quarter of this year.
Did you move to one of these Florida locations for the cost of living or did you decide to move out of Florida? Contact this reporter to share your story [email protected],
Update – August 27, 2023: This article was updated to clarify that the list includes Florida’s larger cities – but not the largest due to data limitations.
