How do you figure out your area's COL?

[onetruething]

Thanks!

[Deleted]

I don't have the answer, but I was wondering this just the other day. I think I live in a MCOL but I could be wrong since I have heard it refered to as LCOL also.

What are the parameters? Housing costs? Taxes (income, property, and sales)? Gas price? Cheese per oz? I really don't know.

[kaylie]

I googled and found this handy dandy list: pewresearch.org/files/old-assets/pdf/MSAsbylivingcosts.pdf

[Deleted]

Oct 12, 2013 18:30:17 GMT -5 kaylie said:

I googled and found this handy dandy list: pewresearch.org/files/old-assets/pdf/MSAsbylivingcosts.pdf

MCOL it is.  Haha.  I like to be right.

[winnied]

I look at my rent payment compared to my parents mortgage payment and begin to weep.

[MadamePresident]

Hmm.. I've always thought I was a MCOL, but according to that we are LCOL.

[mainelyfoolish]

According to that list, I live in a HCOL area. Yes, where I live (southern Maine) taxes are high and the housing is expensive relative to salaries, but I feel like if I claimed HCOL, I'd get ridiculed by people in "real" HCOL areas like Boston or DC. Maybe I should start saying MHCOL.

[Deleted]

Oct 12, 2013 22:47:33 GMT -5 MadamePresident said:

Hmm.. I've always thought I was a MCOL, but according to that we are LCOL.

I'm the opposite.  I always considered us LCOL and according to this we are MCOL.

[nextbigthing]

Mcol for me. I see housing as cheap but property taxes are high

[cosmos]

Sigh.

[cosmos]

Sigh.

[sillygoosegirl]

Oct 13, 2013 5:42:56 GMT -5 mainelyfoolish said:

According to that list, I live in a HCOL area. Yes, where I live (southern Maine) taxes are high and the housing is expensive relative to salaries, but I feel like if I claimed HCOL, I'd get ridiculed by people in "real" HCOL areas like Boston or DC. Maybe I should start saying MHCOL.

I seem to recall getting ridiculed on here for calling Chicago HCOL when I lived there.  

[heygrey]

Oct 12, 2013 22:33:36 GMT -5 winnied said:

I look at my rent payment compared to my parents mortgage payment and begin to weep.

yes. my parents mortgage is half of our rent - their 2400 sq/ft house on 3 acres vs. our 488 sq/ft basement apartment. 

i'm hesitant to claim hcol by canadian standards because there are definitely cities that are more expensive, but in general, mcol in canada is equal to hcol in the US. one time someone posted a comparison of common expenses in US cities and my city exceeded NYC in all categories except housing. 

[pacificrules]

According to this, I'm in a HCOL area. I know it's higher than other areas, but I'd never claim it's "high".

[Deleted]

This is a great list! Very interesting stuff.

[LoveTrains]

That list is interesting. I always say I live on the cheap end of HCOL which this list seems to back up. Housing is so much cheaper here than in Boston but the taxes are higher.

[ellipses84]

Very interesting! I always say I'm HCOL but have wondered if we are on the low end of that, especially since housing prices have dropped so much in the past 5 years. Nope! According to that poll, my hometown is HCOL and I know it's way cheaper to live there.