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TYLER MSA COMPOSITE
2006 Quarter 4
Category Index
Groceries 92.3
Housing 84.8
Utilities 107.1
Transportation 96.5
Health Care 101.3
Miscellaneous 97.7
Total 94.3
Tyler's cost of living index at the fourth quarter of 2006 was 94.3 of 100, and has consistently been 90-96% of the national average for the past five years. Cost of living indexes measure the relative price levels for consumer goods and services compared against the national average. The national average is always 100. Indexes below 100 indicate lower prices (less expensive) than the national average.
For example, Tyler's grocery index is 92.3. If during the fourth quarter of 2006 you bought a $100 basket of groceries in a city with a grocery index of 100, you would pay $100, the national average, for those groceries. However, in Tyler, you would only pay $92.30 for that same basket of groceries - a savings of $7.70, or 7.7%. In other words, your hard-earned dollars can buy more goods in Tyler than anywhere in the nation on average. And look at the housing index! The biggest investment for the average family is for housing. And Tyler's housing costs were only 84.8% of the national average! So the $300,000 home that you sell in your city will probably be $254,400 if you buy that same house here. Tyler Texas real estate is ready to serve you.
The Council for Community and Economic Research (ACCRA) conducts a nationwide survey and calculates the cost of living index each quarter. Since the number of respondents to the survey change each quarter, it is impossible to compare a quarter with any other quarter. A decline in the composite score or any category score does not necessarily mean prices have dropped, though this is possible. A drop in an index could also be caused if prices are rising locally and on the national average, but the local prices are rising at a smaller pace than the national average. The cost of living index is not a measure of inflation!
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