Kearney, Nebraska Cost Of Living

Buy Rent

B-

Overall 9%

Goods & Services 5%

Housing 17%

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	Kearney	Nebraska	National
Cost of living	91	90	100
Goods & Services	95	97	100
Groceries	102	99	100
Health care	98	101	100
Housing	83	76	100
Transportation	94	100	100
Utilities	84	89	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Kearney is 1% higher than the Nebraska average
The cost of living in Kearney is 9% lower than the national average
Kearney housing is 17% lower than the national average
Nebraska general sales tax is 8% higher than the national average
Nebraska state income tax is equal to 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	$76,156	$6,346	$1,777	$2,285
Renters	$30,943	$2,579	$722	$928

A good way to judge both the affordability of the housing and the cost of living in Kearney is by simply calculating the maximum that should be spent on housing, otherwise known as the debt-to-income ratio (DTI). The plan is to avoid spending more than 28 percent of the gross income on costs that pertain to housing and no more than 36 percent on all expenses and debts. Kearney has a median income of about $76,156 for people who own homes. Based on that number, a maximum of $1,777 should be spent on expenses related to housing. Renters have a slightly different median income, which is $30,943. Based on this average, renters should spend no more than $722 on all rental costs if they want to maintain a non-impoverished standard of living.

Nebraska Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
Nebraska	5.5%	7.5%

Nebraska Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
Nebraska	2.46%	6.84%

Goods & Services

Item	Kearney	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$12.50	$20.27	38.3%
Beauty Salon	$25.00	$40.39	38.1%
Toothpaste	$2.07	$2.36	12.1%
Shampoo	$1.05	$1.08	2.8%
Movie	$8.19	$10.99	25.4%
Bowling	$10.00	$15.49	35.4%

Groceries

Item	Kearney	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$3.46	$4.30	19.4%
Fried Chicken	$1.64	$1.40	17.4%
Milk	$2.03	$2.20	7.7%
Potatoes	$3.76	$3.22	16.9%
Pizza	$10.75	$10.74	0.1%
Beer	$9.08	$9.60	5.4%

Health Care

Item	Kearney	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$113.61	$109.73	3.5%
Doctor	$130.00	$118.34	9.9%
Dentist	$83.00	$100.94	17.8%
Ibuprofen	$9.04	$9.93	9.0%
Lipitor	$519.95	$469.53	10.7%

Housing

Item	Kearney	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$159,400.00	$184,700.00	13.7%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$1,280.94	$1,229.62	4.2%
Apartment Rent	$722.00	$949.00	23.9%

Transportation

Item	Kearney	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.58	$2.71	4.8%
Tire Balancing	$47.50	$51.86	8.4%

Utilities

Item	Kearney	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$116.55	$170.84	31.8%
Phone	$195.70	$187.18	4.6%

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.
Odessa, NE	78	82	18.4%
Amherst, NE	225	84	15.7%
Minden, NE	2,911	86	13.7%
Gibbon, NE	2,081	86	13.6%
Riverdale, NE	204	88	12.1%
Kearney, NE	32,709	91	8.7%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Rome, NY	32,673	93	7.4%
St. Charles, IL	32,745	113	12.6%
Kennesaw, GA	32,669	95	4.8%
Orangeville, ON	32,668	n/a
Eastpointe, MI	32,648	89	10.9%
Kearney, NE	32,709	91	8.7%

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