State profile
Missouri Cost of Living Comparison
Missouri's 2024 price level is 90.817, 9.18% below the national level, with rents at 69.880 (tenth-lowest) and a median home value of $230,300.
Updated
90.817Missouri all-items price level, U.S. = 100 · rank 13 of 51, lowest first
| Measure | Missouri | Kentucky | First − second |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-items price level | 90.817 | 90.159 | +0.658 points |
| Rent price level | 69.880 | 64.313 | +5.567 points |
| Home value | $230,300±$880 | $205,600±$1,096 | +$24,700 |
| Two-bedroom gross rent | $1,027±$8 | $968±$7 | +$59 |
| Household income | $70,702±$325 | $63,726±$429 | +$6,976 |
| Real estate taxes paid | $1,948±$11 | $1,544±$10 | +$404 |
$4,000 of monthly spending in Missouri scales to $3,971 in Kentucky at the 2024 all-items price ratio.
BEA 2024 and ACS 2020–2024; ± marks the Census 90% margin. How to read a gap
Missouri at the centre of eight neighbours
Missouri borders eight states, more than almost any other, and they span most of the country's price range. Arkansas (86.937), Oklahoma (87.843) and Iowa (87.762) are cheaper; Kansas (90.068), Nebraska (90.103) and Kentucky (90.159) are essentially level; Tennessee (91.870) is a little dearer; and Illinois, at 99.958 with a two-bedroom median of $1,284, sits near the national level. For St. Louis and Kansas City households, the state line can matter as much as the city.
Housing is inexpensive but not the cheapest in the region. Missouri's home values (40th), rents (41st) and mortgaged owner costs (44th) all fall in the cheapest quarter of the table. The median real estate tax paid is $1,948 a year, rank 36.
Prices stretch incomes. The median household income of $70,702 ranks 41st, but real per capita personal income, adjusted for Missouri's prices, is $57,850 and ranks 28th. Renters spend 28.1% of income on gross rent, rank 40. Other services (95.169) are the seventh-cheapest anywhere and utilities (79.406) the 14th.
Missouri's state government is small by collections. It raised $18.00 billion in fiscal 2025, $2,871 per resident, rank 47, with individual income tax supplying 43.2% and general sales 29.7%. Local sales and property taxes are outside those figures.
The relative price level has drifted down from 92.162 in 2020 to 90.817 in 2024, a change of minus 1.345 points. Kentucky (90.159) is the nearest price level nationally.
Category price levels in Missouri
| Category | Parity | Rank, low first | vs U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| All items | 90.817 | 13 | 9.18% below |
| Goods | 96.299 | 22 | 3.70% below |
| Housing (rents) | 69.880 | 10 | 30.12% below |
| Utilities | 79.406 | 14 | 20.59% below |
| Other services | 95.169 | 7 | 4.83% below |
| Real income per person, 2017 $ | $57,850 | 28 | U.S. $59,195 |
All items by year: 2020 92.162 · 2021 92.012 · 2022 90.991 · 2023 91.104 · 2024 90.817 (−1.345 since 2020). How to read categories and trends
Monthly housing costs
- Owners with a mortgage
- $1,524±$7 · rank 44, high first
- Owners without a mortgage
- $546±$3 · rank 35
- Renters: gross rent / income
- 28.1%±0.2 · rank 40
Missouri state tax collections, FY2025
$18.00 billion in total, $2,871 per resident. Scope of these figures
| Tax | FY2025 | Share | Per resident |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual income | $7.78 billion | 43.2% | $1,241 |
| General sales | $5.35 billion | 29.7% | $853 |
| Property | $47.5 million | 0.3% | $8 |
| Motor fuel | $1.12 billion | 6.2% | $178 |
| Other selective sales | $1.33 billion | 7.4% | $212 |
| Corporate income | $1.59 billion | 8.8% | $253 |
| Licenses | $770.9 million | 4.3% | $123 |
| Severance | $0.0 million | 0.0% | $0 |
| Other taxes | $20.9 million | 0.1% | $3 |
Missouri beside its neighbours
| Jurisdiction | All items | Rents | Goods | 2BR rent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Missouri | 90.817 | 69.880 | 96.299 | $1,027 |
| Arkansas | 86.937 | 58.203 | 93.597 | $907 |
| Illinois | 99.958 | 93.944 | 103.832 | $1,284 |
| Iowa | 87.762 | 65.322 | 93.730 | $989 |
| Kansas | 90.068 | 71.156 | 94.027 | $1,042 |
| Kentucky | 90.159 | 64.313 | 95.967 | $968 |
| Nebraska | 90.103 | 75.174 | 94.101 | $1,083 |
| Oklahoma | 87.843 | 62.763 | 93.778 | $993 |
| Tennessee | 91.870 | 79.070 | 96.247 | $1,143 |
Before you budget a move
A Missouri move involving a cross-border labor market needs clear residence and work locations. The Missouri state medians do not describe the Kansas side of a similarly named area, and a prepared tax calculation needs actual jurisdiction details. Keep those facts separate from the broad price-level ratio.
For St. Louis-area, Kansas City-area or another Missouri address, collect actual housing and commuting costs. A mortgage payment requires price, financing and insurance inputs absent from median owner-occupied value. A rental budget should identify tenant-paid utilities before comparing its cash amount with ACS gross rent.
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