Alma, Arkansas Cost Of Living

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B+

Overall 15%

Goods & Services 9%

Housing 27%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2019 and was released from C2ER in January, 2020; 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	85	84	100
Goods & Services	91	95	100
Groceries	91	90	100
Health care	82	86	100
Housing	73	65	100
Transportation	91	83	100
Utilities	91	91	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Alma is 2% higher than the Arkansas average
The cost of living in Alma is 15% 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	$17.98	$17.49	2.8%
Beauty Salon	$32.46	$38.17	15.0%
Toothpaste	$1.49	$2.32	35.8%
Shampoo	$0.78	$1.01	22.9%
Movie	$10.00	$10.72	6.8%
Bowling	$17.50	$13.86	26.3%

Groceries

Item	Alma	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$3.55	$3.90	9.0%
Fried Chicken	$1.06	$1.40	24.1%
Milk	$1.08	$1.96	45.0%
Potatoes	$2.88	$3.18	9.5%
Pizza	$8.00	$10.39	23.0%
Beer	$8.47	$9.23	8.2%

Health Care

Item	Alma	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$67.50	$106.34	36.5%
Doctor	$82.50	$115.25	28.4%
Dentist	$82.50	$98.38	16.1%
Ibuprofen	$7.97	$9.26	13.9%
Lipitor	$454.00	$466.47	2.7%

Housing

Item	Alma	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$137,900.00	$184,700.00	25.3%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$954.88	$1,273.32	25.0%
Apartment Rent	$654.00	$949.00	31.1%

Transportation

Item	Alma	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.38	$2.59	8.0%
Tire Balancing	$45.00	$48.90	8.0%

Utilities

Item	Alma	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$134.44	$167.60	19.8%
Phone	$190.30	$163.42	16.4%

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, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Moffett, OK	140	73	-27%
Chester, AR	174	76	-24%
Branch, AR	363	76	-24%
Arkoma, OK	1,912	76	-24%
Mountainburg, AR	614	77	-23%
Alma, AR	5,599	85	-15%

Cities with similar population

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Vinita, OK	5,599	79	-21%
Newmarket, NH	5,597	111	11%
Kensington, CA	5,602	200	100%
Zeeland, MI	5,595	89	-11%
Wellston, OH	5,595	82	-18%
Alma, AR	5,599	85	-15%

Source: The Alma, AR cost of living data displayed above is derived from the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) for 2019.