YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
A new report shows the Springfield metro area's cost of living improved in the first quarter year over year.
Springfield was second among participating Missouri metro areas, behind Joplin, but ahead of Missouri as a whole, according to a news release from the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center, which collected data from a survey by The Council for Community and Economic Research.
Springfield's index score is 85.1, which is down from 87.1 in the same quarter of 2022. A score of 100 represents the national average – the lower the score, the lower the costs. The score reflects prices in areas such as groceries, housing, utilities, transportation and health care.
Springfield scored the best in housing, at 72.5, followed by transportation, at 89.2, miscellaneous, at 90, utilities, at 91.9, groceries, at 93.4, and health care, at 95.3, according to the release.
Comparatively, Missouri's index score was 88.4 in the first quarter. No. 1 Joplin had an index score of 84.5, with St. Louis at 88.6, Columbia at 91.1 and Kansas City at 92.9.
Nationwide, Missouri ranked No. 4 in cost of living, according to the release. No. 1 is Mississippi, followed by Oklahoma and Kansas.
Plaza Shopping Center gained an arcade with the March 1 opening of The Flying Lap LLC; the repurposing of space operated by Burrell Behavioral Health resulted in the March 18 opening of the company’s second autism center; and a group of downtown business owners teamed up to reopen J.O.B. Public House.