How Dallas/Fort Worth Measures Up
When compared to cities that are similar – in terms of major industries and population among other factors – your hard-earned dollar stretches much further here. In fact you’ll likely pay less for transportation utilities health care and other critical goods and services like groceries (Texas doesn’t tax unprepared food items) and housing – and we’ve got the stats to prove it.
ACCRA is a national organization dedicated to economic development and policy research and it published an annual Cost of Living Index that ranks a range of living expenses in major cities. The index measures differences between areas in the cost of consumer goods and services minus taxes and non-consumer expenditures.
It also measures relative price levels for consumer goods and services in participating areas. The average for a participating place—both metropolitan and non-metro— is 100 and each city’s index is read as a percentage of the average for all places. See the chart below to see how Dallas measures up against other large metro areas and you’ll see that it’s much less expensive in just about every category measured to hang your hat right here.
For example when comparing the ACCRA Cost of Living Index for the last several years housing in the DFW area has consistently been one of the most affordable metropolitan markets in the U.S. With an average 2013 score of 73.9 housing in the Dallas/Fort Worth area is well below the U.S. average of 100.
Whether you’re thinking about moving here or have just made the move it’s easy to see that the Dallas/Fort Worth area is a thriving community that measures up not only with its quality of life – but also with its affordability. And that’s good news from any perspective.
