St. Cloud, Minnesota Cost Of Living

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C-

Overall 1%

Goods & Services 12%

Housing 23%

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	St. Cloud	Minnesota	National
Cost of living	99	104	100
Goods & Services	112	109	100
Groceries	116	106	100
Health care	115	110	100
Housing	77	100	100
Transportation	95	100	100
Utilities	100	98	100

Key findings

The cost of living in St. Cloud is 5% lower than the Minnesota average
The cost of living in St. Cloud is 1% lower than the national average
St. Cloud housing is 23% lower than the national average
Minnesota general sales tax is 35% higher than the national average
Minnesota state income tax is 117% 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	$64,532	$5,378	$1,506	$1,936
Renters	$30,294	$2,525	$707	$909

A good indicator of the general affordability of housing in St. Cloud, MN, is the percentage of monthly income that should be spent on housing expenses, otherwise known as the debt-to-income ratio (DTI). Generally speaking, no more than 28 percent of your total gross income should be spent on your housing expenses and not more than 36 percent of your gross income on total expenses, including debts. In St. Cloud, the median monthly income is $64,532 for those who own their own homes. Under the standard rule, that income level would allow for $1,506 to be budgeted for housing expenses each month, at the most. Renters, on the other hand, earn about $30,294, per the median income in the area. That would allow for renters to spend up to $707 on monthly rental expenses.

Minnesota Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
Minnesota	6.875%	7.875%

Minnesota Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
Minnesota	5.35%	9.85%

Goods & Services

Item	St. Cloud	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$21.00	$17.49	20.1%
Beauty Salon	$38.50	$38.17	0.9%
Toothpaste	$2.86	$2.32	23.2%
Shampoo	$1.29	$1.01	27.5%
Movie	$10.82	$10.72	0.9%
Bowling	$12.50	$13.86	9.8%

Groceries

Item	St. Cloud	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$4.39	$3.90	12.6%
Fried Chicken	$1.94	$1.40	39.0%
Milk	$2.99	$1.96	52.4%
Potatoes	$2.91	$3.18	8.6%
Pizza	$11.49	$10.39	10.5%
Beer	$10.49	$9.23	13.7%

Health Care

Item	St. Cloud	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$130.67	$106.34	22.9%
Doctor	$184.50	$115.25	60.1%
Dentist	$95.00	$98.38	3.4%
Ibuprofen	$10.47	$9.26	13.1%
Lipitor	$431.22	$466.47	7.6%

Housing

Item	St. Cloud	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$144,100.00	$184,700.00	22.0%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$979.73	$1,273.32	23.1%
Apartment Rent	$722.00	$949.00	23.9%

Transportation

Item	St. Cloud	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.52	$2.59	2.9%
Tire Balancing	$45.65	$48.90	6.6%

Utilities

Item	St. Cloud	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$170.63	$167.60	1.8%
Phone	$178.83	$163.42	9.4%

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.
Holdingford, MN	613	95	-5%
Foley, MN	2,654	96	-4%
Gilman, MN	216	97	-3%
Ronneby, MN	32	97	-3%
Waite Park, MN	7,371	99	-1%
St. Cloud, MN	66,770	99	-1%

Cities with similar population

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Oshkosh, WI	66,713	89	-11%
Kissimmee, FL	66,840	91	-9%
Woodbury, MN	66,699	120	20%
Davis, CA	66,886	156	56%
Palo Alto, CA	66,649	305	205%
St. Cloud, MN	66,770	99	-1%

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

St. Cloud, MN Cost of Living

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