An Overview of Cost of Living in South Portland, ME
The cost of living in South Portland affects the quality of life one can afford in this new location. It allows people to assess whether they can maintain their preferred lifestyle, including housing, leisure activities and dining options. Your total monthly expenditures can varry depending on the area, as well as many other factors. The cost of living in South Portland is 119, which is 19% higher than the national average. Knowledge of the cost of living can help individuals make informed decisions about retirement savings, investments, and financial goals.
When it comes to the cost of living in South Portland, housing costs are a real heavyweight, often hogging a significant chunk of your earnings. Sadly, in this area, housing expenses for both buying and renting were 47.2% more expensive compared to your average city. That means you'll be shelling out more for homes, rents, mortgage rates and insurance.
Is South Portland Affordable?
Is South Portland affordable? It's a key consideration when pondering a move, as affordability often shapes your choices. The cost of living index (we discussed it earlier), coupled with housing costs and income levels, serves as the cornerstone for determining a location's affordability. Take South Portland, for instance, where the median home price falls 49.5% higher than the national average, and monthly rent rates are 41.8% higher than usual. Additionally, median income levels contribute to the equation, with South Portland flaunting a median household income of $67,198, 21.5% higher than the national norm.
What Factors can Influence the Cost of Living in South Portland?
Groceries: Over the past 2-3 years, grocery expenses have experienced substantial upward trends. In certain markets, food prices have surged by over 20% during this period, while others have witnessed more modest increases. These fluctuations in food costs can wield significant influence over the overall cost of living in a given region. In South Portland, the groceries index is 1.8% higher than the national average.
Urbanization: Larger, urban centers, known for their wealth of amenities and strong employment prospects, often exhibit an elevated cost of living, primarily attributable to the heightened demand for services and residential relocation. Consequently, this scenario leads to elevated home prices and higher rental rates. In contrast, sparsely populated rural areas or regions characterized by diminished demand typically provide a more limited array of amenities and experience slower job market growth, resulting in a more affordable cost of living.
Utilities: As with the prices of anything else, utility costs can exhibit significant variations, contingent on factors like climate, energy source availability, geographic location and state regulations. The expenses associated with electricity, water, heating, and waste disposal can fluctuate, either upward or downward, depending on the particular city or state. In South Portland, the utilities index registers 6.7% higher than the national average.
Where is the Data From?
The South Portland cost of living data displayed above is derived from the C2ER cost of living index to provide a useful and reasonably accurate measure of living cost differences in urban areas. The index takes into account data from 300 independent researches, covering more than 60 goods and services across 6 different categories, to create an overall index for each area, with 100 being the average. The C2ER index does not include sales or income tax rates in their data, however AreaVibes does include both income and sales tax rates in the overall cost of living score for each area.
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