Alma, Arkansas Cost Of Living

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B+

Overall 13%

Goods & Services 7%

Housing 27%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2022 and was released from C2ER in January, 2022; this is the most current data available.

The cost of living index is based on a national average of 100. For example, if the cost of living is 90, then it is 10% lower than average. If the cost of living is 110, then it is 10% higher than average. The breakdown for each index is as follows: goods & services (33%), groceries (13%), health care (5%), housing (30%), transportation (9%) and utilities (10%). If the cost of living data was unavailable for this city, estimates based upon nearby cities were used.
Index	Alma	Arkansas	National
Cost of living	87	87	100
Goods & Services	93	102	100
Groceries	95	93	100
Health care	79	85	100
Housing	73	65	100
Transportation	100	92	100
Utilities	92	92	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Alma is equal to the Arkansas average
The cost of living in Alma is 13% lower than the national average
Alma housing is 27% lower than the national average
Arkansas general sales tax is 28% higher than the national average
Arkansas state income tax is 19% lower than the national average

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Price difference in compared to

Cost of living index
Goods & Services index
Groceries index
Health care index
Housing index
Transportation index
Utilities index

Median Income & Debt-To-Income Ratio

Median Income	Per Year	Per Month	Max Budget (28% DTI)	Max Budget (36% DTI)
Owners	$57,088	$4,757	$1,332	$1,713
Renters	$31,095	$2,591	$726	$933

The affordability of the housing market in Alma, AR as well as the overall cost of living can be predicted by what percent of the monthly income is spent on housing related costs. This is konwn as the debt-to-income ratio (DTI). The overall rule of thumb is that no more than 28% of your gross income should be spent on the overall costs related to housing and no more than 36% of gross income on all expenses and debts. Among Alma homeowners, the median income is $57,088. This indicates that a monthly maximum of $1,332 should be spent by homeowners on all housing related costs. Renters have a median income of $31,095. This indicates that renters would have a maximum of $726 for their rent related monthly costs.

Arkansas Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
Arkansas	6.5%	11.625%

Arkansas Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
Arkansas	2%	6.6%

Goods & Services

Item	Alma	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$18.28	$20.27	9.8%
Beauty Salon	$35.78	$40.39	11.4%
Toothpaste	$2.32	$2.36	1.8%
Shampoo	$0.96	$1.08	10.5%
Movie	$10.89	$10.99	0.9%
Bowling	$16.17	$15.49	4.4%

Groceries

Item	Alma	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$4.98	$4.30	15.8%
Fried Chicken	$1.04	$1.40	25.7%
Milk	$2.90	$2.20	31.6%
Potatoes	$3.52	$3.22	9.3%
Pizza	$7.90	$10.74	26.5%
Beer	$9.38	$9.60	2.3%

Health Care

Item	Alma	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$73.06	$109.73	33.4%
Doctor	$81.11	$118.34	31.5%
Dentist	$72.78	$100.94	27.9%
Ibuprofen	$9.87	$9.93	0.6%
Lipitor	$467.63	$469.53	0.4%

Housing

Item	Alma	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$137,900.00	$184,700.00	25.3%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$941.09	$1,229.62	23.5%
Apartment Rent	$654.00	$949.00	31.1%

Transportation

Item	Alma	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.66	$2.71	1.8%
Tire Balancing	$52.89	$51.86	2.0%

Utilities

Item	Alma	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$134.96	$170.84	21.0%
Phone	$202.06	$187.18	8.0%

Although the cost of living data is updated regularly, this cost of living information is to be used as estimates only as prices can change on an ongoing basis.

Nearby cities with low cost of living

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Moffett, OK	140	75	25.0%
Chester, AR	174	78	22.3%
Branch, AR	363	78	22.0%
Arkoma, OK	1,912	78	21.9%
Mountainburg, AR	614	79	20.9%
Alma, AR	5,599	87	12.8%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Vinita, OK	5,599	77	22.9%
Newmarket, NH	5,597	113	12.9%
Kensington, CA	5,602	198	98.4%
Trent Lakes, ON	5,602	n/a
Zeeland, MI	5,595	90	10.0%
Alma, AR	5,599	87	12.8%

Source: This data reflects 2021 and was released from C2ER in January, 2022; this is the most current data available.