Hershey, Pennsylvania Cost Of Living

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D

Overall 7%

Goods & Services 4%

Housing 22%

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	Hershey	Pennsylvania	National
Cost of living	107	100	100
Goods & Services	104	102	100
Groceries	93	105	100
Health care	110	98	100
Housing	122	91	100
Transportation	104	105	100
Utilities	89	106	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Hershey is 7% higher than the Pennsylvania average
The cost of living in Hershey is 7% higher than the national average
Hershey housing is 22% higher than the national average
Pennsylvania general sales tax is 18% higher than the national average
Pennsylvania state income tax is 24% 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	$90,130	$7,511	$2,103	$2,704
Renters	$38,044	$3,170	$888	$1,141

The percent of monthly income spent on housing can be a good indicator of the affordability of housing in Hershey, PA, as well as the overall cost of living. As a general rule of thumb, the debt-to-income ratio (DTI) for homeowners or renters should be not more than 28 percent of gross income to be spent on housing related costs and not more than 36 percent of income on all expenses, including debts. The median income for Hershey homeowners, is $90,130. This would allow for a maximum of $2,103 per month to be spent on housing costs. For renters, the median monthly income is $38,044 which would result in a maximum of $888 to be spent on rental costs.

Pennsylvania Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
Pennsylvania	6%	8%

Pennsylvania Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
Pennsylvania	3.07%	3.07%

Goods & Services

Item	Hershey	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$21.05	$20.27	3.8%
Beauty Salon	$42.57	$40.39	5.4%
Toothpaste	$2.13	$2.36	9.7%
Shampoo	$1.09	$1.08	0.8%
Movie	$11.33	$10.99	3.1%
Bowling	$14.91	$15.49	3.7%

Groceries

Item	Hershey	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$3.99	$4.30	7.2%
Fried Chicken	$1.18	$1.40	15.5%
Milk	$2.20	$2.20	0.0%
Potatoes	$3.70	$3.22	14.8%
Pizza	$10.45	$10.74	2.7%
Beer	$10.54	$9.60	9.8%

Health Care

Item	Hershey	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$87.60	$109.73	20.2%
Doctor	$107.13	$118.34	9.5%
Dentist	$148.82	$100.94	47.4%
Ibuprofen	$9.71	$9.93	2.2%
Lipitor	$416.42	$469.53	11.3%

Housing

Item	Hershey	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$246,300.00	$184,700.00	33.4%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$1,134.94	$1,229.62	7.7%
Apartment Rent	$909.00	$949.00	4.2%

Transportation

Item	Hershey	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.85	$2.71	5.0%
Tire Balancing	$53.73	$51.86	3.6%

Utilities

Item	Hershey	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$132.75	$170.84	22.3%
Phone	$192.46	$187.18	2.8%

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.
Fort Indiantown Gap, PA	105	100	0.2%
Oberlin, PA	261	86	13.9%
Lebanon, PA	25,654	87	13.2%
Harrisburg, PA	49,160	87	12.9%
Highspire, PA	2,275	88	12.3%
Hershey, PA	14,338	107	6.7%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Glasgow, KY	14,338	85	15.4%
Lavaltrie, QC	14,339	n/a
Antioch, IL	14,342	98	1.9%
Chubbuck, ID	14,326	90	10.3%
Hartford, WI	14,350	94	5.8%
Hershey, PA	14,338	107	6.7%

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