South Bend, Indiana Cost Of Living

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Overall 19%

Goods & Services 7%

Housing 47%

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	South Bend	Indiana	National
Cost of living	81	89	100
Goods & Services	94	96	100
Groceries	91	94	100
Health care	97	96	100
Housing	53	72	100
Transportation	92	99	100
Utilities	95	99	100

Key findings

The cost of living in South Bend is 9% lower than the Indiana average
The cost of living in South Bend is 19% 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	$19.94	$20.27	1.6%
Beauty Salon	$40.00	$40.39	1.0%
Toothpaste	$1.81	$2.36	23.3%
Shampoo	$0.91	$1.08	15.1%
Movie	$10.21	$10.99	7.1%
Bowling	$8.88	$15.49	42.7%

Groceries

Item	South Bend	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$3.75	$4.30	12.8%
Fried Chicken	$1.37	$1.40	2.1%
Milk	$1.47	$2.20	33.1%
Potatoes	$2.99	$3.22	7.2%
Pizza	$12.11	$10.74	12.8%
Beer	$8.78	$9.60	8.5%

Health Care

Item	South Bend	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$111.11	$109.73	1.3%
Doctor	$120.66	$118.34	2.0%
Dentist	$102.22	$100.94	1.3%
Ibuprofen	$8.80	$9.93	11.4%
Lipitor	$394.82	$469.53	15.9%

Housing

Item	South Bend	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$80,500.00	$184,700.00	56.4%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$1,139.56	$1,229.62	7.3%
Apartment Rent	$710.00	$949.00	25.2%

Transportation

Item	South Bend	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.54	$2.71	6.2%
Tire Balancing	$45.67	$51.86	11.9%

Utilities

Item	South Bend	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$154.53	$170.84	9.5%
Phone	$187.80	$187.18	0.3%

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.
Niles, MI	11,379	80	20.3%
New Troy, MI	741	80	20.4%
Roseland, IN	489	81	19.0%
Edwardsburg, MI	1,269	87	12.7%
Hudson Lake, IN	1,261	81	18.7%
South Bend, IN	101,037	81	18.9%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Jurupa Valley, CA	100,737	118	18.4%
Lethbridge, AB	101,384	n/a
Las Cruces, NM	101,459	88	11.7%
Kamloops, BC	101,505	n/a
Nanaimo, BC	101,513	n/a
South Bend, IN	101,037	81	18.9%

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