Surprise, Arizona Cost Of Living

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D+

Overall 2%

Goods & Services 11%

Housing 13%

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	Surprise	Arizona	National
Cost of living	102	99	100
Goods & Services	89	98	100
Groceries	95	99	100
Health care	82	98	100
Housing	113	97	100
Transportation	103	104	100
Utilities	132	103	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Surprise is 3% higher than the Arizona average
The cost of living in Surprise is 2% higher than the national average
Surprise housing is 13% higher than the national average
Arizona general sales tax is 10% higher than the national average
Arizona state income tax is 5% 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	$65,515	$5,460	$1,529	$1,966
Renters	$51,254	$4,271	$1,196	$1,538

The affordability of the housing market in Surprise, AZ 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 Surprise homeowners, the median income is $65,515. This indicates that a monthly maximum of $1,529 should be spent by homeowners on all housing related costs. Renters have a median income of $51,254. This indicates that renters would have a maximum of $1,196 for their rent related monthly costs.

Arizona Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
Arizona	5.6%	10.725%

Arizona Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
Arizona	2.59%	4.5%

Goods & Services

Item	Surprise	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$14.00	$17.49	20.0%
Beauty Salon	$21.97	$38.17	42.4%
Toothpaste	$1.89	$2.32	18.6%
Shampoo	$1.03	$1.01	1.8%
Movie	$11.38	$10.72	6.1%
Bowling	$15.00	$13.86	8.2%

Groceries

Item	Surprise	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$3.50	$3.90	10.3%
Fried Chicken	$1.45	$1.40	3.9%
Milk	$1.51	$1.96	23.0%
Potatoes	$1.95	$3.18	38.7%
Pizza	$10.99	$10.39	5.7%
Beer	$9.31	$9.23	0.9%

Health Care

Item	Surprise	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$66.00	$106.34	37.9%
Doctor	$100.00	$115.25	13.2%
Dentist	$71.00	$98.38	27.8%
Ibuprofen	$8.98	$9.26	3.0%
Lipitor	$455.57	$466.47	2.3%

Housing

Item	Surprise	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$197,600.00	$184,700.00	7.0%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$1,006.61	$1,273.32	20.9%
Apartment Rent	$1,199.00	$949.00	26.3%

Transportation

Item	Surprise	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.91	$2.59	12.3%
Tire Balancing	$44.00	$48.90	10.0%

Utilities

Item	Surprise	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$267.76	$167.60	59.8%
Phone	$175.65	$163.42	7.5%

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.
Wittmann, AZ	361	98	-2%
Goodyear Village, AZ	253	88	-12%
Youngtown, AZ	6,563	91	-9%
Sun City, AZ	39,363	91	-9%
El Mirage, AZ	33,937	93	-7%
Surprise, AZ	127,492	102	2%

Cities with similar population

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Topeka, KS	127,472	83	-17%
Stamford, CT	127,410	157	57%
Coral Springs, FL	127,673	117	17%
Elizabeth, NJ	128,042	118	18%
Concord, CA	126,938	151	51%
Surprise, AZ	127,492	102	2%

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

Surprise, AZ Cost of Living

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