New Haven, Connecticut Cost Of Living

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F

Overall 17%

Goods & Services 25%

Housing 8%

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	New Haven	Connecticut	National
Cost of living	117	124	100
Goods & Services	125	123	100
Groceries	109	108	100
Health care	113	112	100
Housing	108	137	100
Transportation	110	114	100
Utilities	142	129	100

Key findings

The cost of living in New Haven is 6% lower than the Connecticut average
The cost of living in New Haven is 17% higher than the national average
New Haven housing is 8% higher than the national average
Connecticut general sales tax is 25% higher than the national average
Connecticut state income tax is 22% 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	$72,867	$6,072	$1,700	$2,186
Renters	$29,923	$2,494	$698	$898

The affordability of the housing market in New Haven, CT as well as the overall cost of living can be predicted by what percent of the monthly income is spent on housing related costs. This is konwn as the debt-to-income ratio (DTI). The overall rule of thumb is that no more than 28% of your gross income should be spent on the overall costs related to housing and no more than 36% of gross income on all expenses and debts. Among New Haven homeowners, the median income is $72,867. This indicates that a monthly maximum of $1,700 should be spent by homeowners on all housing related costs. Renters have a median income of $29,923. This indicates that renters would have a maximum of $698 for their rent related monthly costs.

Connecticut Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
Connecticut	6.35%	6.35%

Connecticut Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
Connecticut	3%	6.99%

Goods & Services

Item	New Haven	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$27.40	$17.49	56.7%
Beauty Salon	$53.80	$38.17	40.9%
Toothpaste	$1.75	$2.32	24.6%
Shampoo	$0.97	$1.01	4.1%
Movie	$12.70	$10.72	18.4%
Bowling	$19.20	$13.86	38.5%

Groceries

Item	New Haven	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$3.99	$3.90	2.3%
Fried Chicken	$1.68	$1.40	20.4%
Milk	$2.51	$1.96	27.9%
Potatoes	$3.99	$3.18	25.4%
Pizza	$9.39	$10.39	9.7%
Beer	$9.99	$9.23	8.2%

Health Care

Item	New Haven	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$114.60	$106.34	7.8%
Doctor	$131.60	$115.25	14.2%
Dentist	$116.80	$98.38	18.7%
Ibuprofen	$9.09	$9.26	1.8%
Lipitor	$521.84	$466.47	11.9%

Housing

Item	New Haven	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$190,700.00	$184,700.00	3.2%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$1,408.65	$1,273.32	10.6%
Apartment Rent	$1,121.00	$949.00	18.1%

Transportation

Item	New Haven	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.84	$2.59	9.6%
Tire Balancing	$55.94	$48.90	14.4%

Utilities

Item	New Haven	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$299.32	$167.60	78.6%
Phone	$174.02	$163.42	6.5%

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.
Naugatuck, CT	31,625	114	14%
Bridgeport, CT	147,022	115	15%
West Haven, CT	54,972	117	17%
Derby, CT	12,755	118	18%
Ansonia, CT	18,950	119	19%
New Haven, CT	130,405	117	17%

Cities with similar population

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Thornton, CO	130,511	105	5%
Waco, TX	130,659	85	-15%
Charleston, SC	129,888	111	11%
Enterprise, NV	129,620	108	8%
Cedar Rapids, IA	129,537	94	-6%
New Haven, CT	130,405	117	17%

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

New Haven, CT Cost of Living

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