South Bend, Indiana Cost Of Living

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Overall 13%

Goods & Services 8%

Housing 47%

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	South Bend	Indiana	National
Cost of living	87	89	100
Goods & Services	108	97	100
Groceries	95	92	100
Health care	101	94	100
Housing	53	72	100
Transportation	96	100	100
Utilities	93	99	100

Key findings

The cost of living in South Bend is 3% lower than the Indiana average
The cost of living in South Bend is 13% lower than the national average
South Bend housing is 47% lower than the national average
Indiana general sales tax is 37% higher than the national average
Indiana state income tax is 31% 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	$48,361	$4,030	$1,128	$1,451
Renters	$22,358	$1,863	$522	$671

A good way to judge both the affordability of the housing and the cost of living in South Bend 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. South Bend has a median income of about $48,361 for people who own homes. Based on that number, a maximum of $1,128 should be spent on expenses related to housing. Renters have a slightly different median income, which is $22,358. Based on this average, renters should spend no more than $522 on all rental costs if they want to maintain a non-impoverished standard of living.

Indiana Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
Indiana	7%	7%

Indiana Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
Indiana	3.23%	3.23%

Goods & Services

Item	South Bend	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$16.00	$17.49	8.5%
Beauty Salon	$41.00	$38.17	7.4%
Toothpaste	$2.28	$2.32	1.8%
Shampoo	$1.02	$1.01	0.8%
Movie	$8.50	$10.72	20.7%
Bowling	$11.00	$13.86	20.6%

Groceries

Item	South Bend	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$3.62	$3.90	7.2%
Fried Chicken	$1.22	$1.40	12.6%
Milk	$1.18	$1.96	39.9%
Potatoes	$2.69	$3.18	15.5%
Pizza	$11.99	$10.39	15.4%
Beer	$8.87	$9.23	3.9%

Health Care

Item	South Bend	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$128.33	$106.34	20.7%
Doctor	$121.00	$115.25	5.0%
Dentist	$100.67	$98.38	2.3%
Ibuprofen	$8.26	$9.26	10.8%
Lipitor	$445.01	$466.47	4.6%

Housing

Item	South Bend	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$80,500.00	$184,700.00	56.4%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$1,162.66	$1,273.32	8.7%
Apartment Rent	$710.00	$949.00	25.2%

Transportation

Item	South Bend	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.59	$2.59	0.2%
Tire Balancing	$45.67	$48.90	6.6%

Utilities

Item	South Bend	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$145.18	$167.60	13.4%
Phone	$181.43	$163.42	11.0%

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, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Niles, MI	11,379	85	-15%
New Troy, MI	741	83	-17%
Roseland, IN	489	87	-13%
Edwardsburg, MI	1,269	87	-13%
Hudson Lake, IN	1,261	87	-13%
South Bend, IN	101,037	87	-13%

Cities with similar population

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Jurupa Valley, CA	100,737	119	19%
Las Cruces, NM	101,459	90	-10%
Hillsboro, OR	100,462	122	22%
Erie, PA	100,157	84	-16%
Tyler, TX	101,946	92	-8%
South Bend, IN	101,037	87	-13%

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