Columbus, Illinois Cost Of Living

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Overall 22%

Goods & Services 12%

Housing 59%

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	Columbus	Illinois	National
Cost of living	78	98	100
Goods & Services	89	98	100
Groceries	97	97	100
Health care	99	100	100
Housing	41	95	100
Transportation	90	112	100
Utilities	109	97	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Columbus is 21% lower than the Illinois average
The cost of living in Columbus is 22% lower than the national average
Columbus housing is 59% lower than the national average
Illinois general sales tax is 23% higher than the national average
Illinois state income tax is 101% higher 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	$32,083	$2,674	$749	$963
Renters	$0	$0	$0	$0

Illinois Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
Illinois	6.25%	10.25%

Illinois Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
Illinois	4.95%	4.95%

Goods & Services

Item	Columbus	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$13.97	$17.49	20.1%
Beauty Salon	$20.49	$38.17	46.3%
Toothpaste	$2.16	$2.32	6.9%
Shampoo	$1.05	$1.01	3.8%
Movie	$9.00	$10.72	16.1%
Bowling	$7.75	$13.86	44.1%

Groceries

Item	Columbus	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$3.39	$3.90	13.1%
Fried Chicken	$1.55	$1.40	11.1%
Milk	$2.15	$1.96	9.6%
Potatoes	$2.49	$3.18	21.8%
Pizza	$10.70	$10.39	2.9%
Beer	$9.99	$9.23	8.2%

Health Care

Item	Columbus	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$101.00	$106.34	5.0%
Doctor	$121.00	$115.25	5.0%
Dentist	$86.00	$98.38	12.6%
Ibuprofen	$9.49	$9.26	2.5%
Lipitor	$536.88	$466.47	15.1%

Housing

Item	Columbus	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$75,000.00	$184,700.00	59.4%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$892.73	$1,273.32	29.9%
Apartment Rent	$0.00	$949.00	100.0%

Transportation

Item	Columbus	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.52	$2.59	3.0%
Tire Balancing	$39.00	$48.90	20.2%

Utilities

Item	Columbus	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$196.50	$167.60	17.2%
Phone	$177.99	$163.42	8.9%

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.
Clayton, IL	607	76	-24%
Mound Station, IL	158	76	-24%
Lima, IL	121	77	-23%
La Prairie, IL	68	77	-23%
Golden, IL	643	78	-22%
Columbus, IL	115	78	-22%

Cities with similar population

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Alfarata, PA	115	84	-16%
Billingsley, AL	115	74	-26%
Darfur, MN	115	74	-26%
Mono City, CA	115	113	13%
Louisburg, MO	115	74	-26%
Columbus, IL	115	78	-22%

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