Vista, California Cost Of Living

Buy Rent

F

Overall 37%

Goods & Services 8%

Housing 91%

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	Vista	California	National
Cost of living	137	140	100
Goods & Services	108	111	100
Groceries	116	118	100
Health care	110	113	100
Housing	191	196	100
Transportation	130	128	100
Utilities	119	118	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Vista is 2% lower than the California average
The cost of living in Vista is 37% higher than the national average
Vista housing is 91% higher than the national average
California general sales tax is 42% higher than the national average
California state income tax is 59% lower 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	$74,075	$6,173	$1,728	$2,222
Renters	$44,650	$3,721	$1,042	$1,340

A good way to judge both the affordability of the housing and the cost of living in Vista 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. Vista has a median income of about $74,075 for people who own homes. Based on that number, a maximum of $1,728 should be spent on expenses related to housing. Renters have a slightly different median income, which is $44,650. Based on this average, renters should spend no more than $1,042 on all rental costs if they want to maintain a non-impoverished standard of living.

California Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
California	7.25%	10.5%

California Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
California	1%	13.3%

Goods & Services

Item	Vista	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$20.80	$17.49	18.9%
Beauty Salon	$61.25	$38.17	60.5%
Toothpaste	$2.49	$2.32	7.3%
Shampoo	$1.39	$1.01	37.4%
Movie	$14.12	$10.72	31.7%
Bowling	$20.67	$13.86	49.1%

Groceries

Item	Vista	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$3.32	$3.90	14.9%
Fried Chicken	$1.79	$1.40	28.2%
Milk	$2.19	$1.96	11.6%
Potatoes	$2.99	$3.18	6.1%
Pizza	$10.99	$10.39	5.7%
Beer	$9.66	$9.23	4.7%

Health Care

Item	Vista	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$114.50	$106.34	7.7%
Doctor	$131.25	$115.25	13.9%
Dentist	$104.00	$98.38	5.7%
Ibuprofen	$12.32	$9.26	33.0%
Lipitor	$483.87	$466.47	3.7%

Housing

Item	Vista	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$392,700.00	$184,700.00	112.6%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$2,842.85	$1,273.32	123.3%
Apartment Rent	$1,331.00	$949.00	40.3%

Transportation

Item	Vista	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$3.79	$2.59	46.2%
Tire Balancing	$52.00	$48.90	6.4%

Utilities

Item	Vista	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$230.87	$167.60	37.7%
Phone	$173.40	$163.42	6.1%

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.
Pala, CA	1,006	111	11%
Escondido, CA	149,912	134	34%
Camp Pendleton North, CA	7,885	137	37%
Oceanside, CA	173,829	137	37%
Fallbrook, CA	31,771	139	39%
Vista, CA	98,560	137	37%

Cities with similar population

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Renton, WA	98,499	138	38%
San Angelo, TX	98,694	86	-14%
Albany, NY	98,425	102	2%
Davie, FL	98,717	109	9%
Flint, MI	98,918	81	-19%
Vista, CA	98,560	137	37%

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

Vista, CA Cost of Living