Cottage Grove, Minnesota Cost Of Living

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Overall 10%

Goods & Services 11%

Housing 19%

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	Cottage Grove	Minnesota	National
Cost of living	110	103	100
Goods & Services	111	108	100
Groceries	102	104	100
Health care	98	107	100
Housing	119	100	100
Transportation	105	99	100
Utilities	95	97	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Cottage Grove is 6% higher than the Minnesota average
The cost of living in Cottage Grove is 10% higher than the national average
Cottage Grove housing is 19% higher than the national average
Minnesota general sales tax is 35% higher than the national average
Minnesota state income tax is 117% 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	$93,490	$7,791	$2,181	$2,805
Renters	$41,154	$3,430	$960	$1,235

To approximate the cost of living and the housing affordability in Cottage Grove, MN, we can look at the percentage of income that is available to be spent on monthly housing, otherwise known as the debt-to-income ratio (DTI). To stay on the safe side, a consumer should not spend more than 28% of his or her gross income on housing-related expenses and costs and not more than 36% of income on all expenses and debts. Homeowners in Cottage Grove have a median income of $93,490. Therefore, the amount that a consumer should spend on housing costs should be no more than $2,181 per month to avoid calamity and poverty. The renters in the city have an income of about $41,154, which would make their monthly maximum allowable rental costs $960.

Minnesota Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
Minnesota	6.875%	7.875%

Minnesota Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
Minnesota	5.35%	9.85%

Goods & Services

Item	Cottage Grove	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$25.02	$20.27	23.4%
Beauty Salon	$36.08	$40.39	10.7%
Toothpaste	$3.32	$2.36	40.9%
Shampoo	$1.10	$1.08	2.5%
Movie	$10.36	$10.99	5.7%
Bowling	$29.34	$15.49	89.4%

Groceries

Item	Cottage Grove	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$4.46	$4.30	3.8%
Fried Chicken	$2.23	$1.40	59.6%
Milk	$2.55	$2.20	15.6%
Potatoes	$3.22	$3.22	0.1%
Pizza	$13.04	$10.74	21.4%
Beer	$9.00	$9.60	6.2%

Health Care

Item	Cottage Grove	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$91.05	$109.73	17.0%
Doctor	$147.35	$118.34	24.5%
Dentist	$85.40	$100.94	15.4%
Ibuprofen	$10.83	$9.93	9.0%
Lipitor	$441.75	$469.53	5.9%

Housing

Item	Cottage Grove	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$216,500.00	$184,700.00	17.2%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$1,197.54	$1,229.62	2.6%
Apartment Rent	$1,170.00	$949.00	23.3%

Transportation

Item	Cottage Grove	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.66	$2.71	1.8%
Tire Balancing	$60.81	$51.86	17.3%

Utilities

Item	Cottage Grove	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$158.18	$170.84	7.4%
Phone	$185.49	$187.18	0.9%

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	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Landfall, MN	793	76	24.0%
South End, MN	26	79	20.9%
St. Anthony city (Stearns County), MN	106	87	13.2%
South St. Paul, MN	20,281	100	0.2%
Prescott, WI	4,217	100	0.3%
Cottage Grove, MN	35,632	110	9.5%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Newnan, GA	35,642	96	3.6%
West Hollywood, CA	35,661	167	67.0%
Moorpark, CA	35,594	162	61.8%
Parkland County, AB	35,675	n/a
Manhattan Beach, CA	35,573	276	176.2%
Cottage Grove, MN	35,632	110	9.5%

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