Marion, Arkansas Cost Of Living

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B+

Overall 14%

Goods & Services 11%

Housing 20%

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	Marion	Arkansas	National
Cost of living	86	87	100
Goods & Services	89	102	100
Groceries	91	93	100
Health care	83	85	100
Housing	80	65	100
Transportation	88	92	100
Utilities	87	92	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Marion is 1% lower than the Arkansas average
The cost of living in Marion is 14% lower than the national average
Marion housing is 20% 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	$75,482	$6,290	$1,761	$2,265
Renters	$41,216	$3,435	$962	$1,237

A good way to judge both the affordability of the housing and the cost of living in Marion 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. Marion has a median income of about $75,482 for people who own homes. Based on that number, a maximum of $1,761 should be spent on expenses related to housing. Renters have a slightly different median income, which is $41,216. Based on this average, renters should spend no more than $962 on all rental costs if they want to maintain a non-impoverished standard of living.

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	Marion	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$16.53	$20.27	18.4%
Beauty Salon	$41.00	$40.39	1.5%
Toothpaste	$1.80	$2.36	23.8%
Shampoo	$0.93	$1.08	13.6%
Movie	$12.00	$10.99	9.2%
Bowling	$15.33	$15.49	1.0%

Groceries

Item	Marion	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$3.09	$4.30	28.2%
Fried Chicken	$1.01	$1.40	27.6%
Milk	$1.90	$2.20	13.9%
Potatoes	$3.64	$3.22	13.1%
Pizza	$10.06	$10.74	6.3%
Beer	$9.45	$9.60	1.6%

Health Care

Item	Marion	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$75.56	$109.73	31.1%
Doctor	$89.81	$118.34	24.1%
Dentist	$82.07	$100.94	18.7%
Ibuprofen	$9.03	$9.93	9.1%
Lipitor	$467.83	$469.53	0.4%

Housing

Item	Marion	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$147,200.00	$184,700.00	20.3%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$907.90	$1,229.62	26.2%
Apartment Rent	$781.00	$949.00	17.7%

Transportation

Item	Marion	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.42	$2.71	10.8%
Tire Balancing	$45.09	$51.86	13.1%

Utilities

Item	Marion	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$131.03	$170.84	23.3%
Phone	$189.02	$187.18	1.0%

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.
Jericho, AR	96	89	11.4%
Sunset, AR	168	71	29.1%
Turrell, AR	469	72	27.6%
Gilmore, AR	189	73	26.8%
Earle, AR	1,989	76	24.5%
Marion, AR	12,323	86	13.9%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Channahon, IL	12,329	105	5.0%
Panama City Beach, FL	12,333	104	4.3%
Bayou Blue, LA	12,333	91	9.4%
Mountain Home, AR	12,312	86	13.8%
Steamboat Springs, CO	12,336	136	36.0%
Marion, AR	12,323	86	13.9%

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