Bullhead City is Most Affordable City in Arizona

The Cost-of-Living Index (COLI) Annual Average Data

report for the third quarter of 2022 was released and Bullhead City is once

again the most affordable city in Arizona. Statistics show it is also one of

the most affordable cities in the nation. Bullhead City was reported again as

the most affordable city in Arizona with an overall composite index of 91.1

percent. This report represents the average prices submitted by the

participating 265 urban areas nationwide.  

“Bullhead City residents enjoy the most affordable housing and retail prices. This is no

small issue as new residents arrive every day because of affordability.” stated

City Manager Toby Cotter. “Bullhead City is proud to be one of the most

affordable cities in the country.” 

A city’s composite index is a composite score of six categories: grocery items,

housing, utilities, transportation, health care and miscellaneous goods and

services. The cost-of-living doesn’t measure price changes from period to

period, but rather how regional prices compare across all participating regions

in each quarter. The average nationwide score for each category and the overall

composite index is 100, and individual scores are read as a percentage.

Bullhead City’s composite score of 91.1 means the Bullhead city is 8.9% more

affordable than the National Average. For comparison, Phoenix Arizona’s 2022 3rd quarter

score of 105.8 shows that Phoenix is 5.8% less affordable than the National

Average.  

The breakdown of the six components for the City of

Bullhead City this reporting period is 94.6 percent for housing costs, 90.8

percent for utilities costs, 94.9 percent for transportation costs, 94.2

percent for healthcare, 98.1 percent for grocery items and 82.1 percent for

misc. goods and services. When compared to the other Arizona cities that

participated, Bullhead City is the lowest in housing and miscellaneous

services, second for grocery items, transportation, and utilities and third for

healthcare. 

 The City’s low cost of living is great for our economy, which continues to attract

new businesses and residents looking at getting away from higher costs areas

such as southern California’s Orange County at 154.9 percent and Los Angeles-Long

Beach at 152.5 percent. The other five Arizona cities that participated this

quarter and their overall composite scores are: Phoenix 105.8 percent, Surprise

97.9 percent, Prescott-Prescott Valley 117.7 percent, and Tucson 104.1 percent.

Cotter said Bullhead City businesses do a great job of keeping costs down with

consumers in mind. “From specials at local restaurants to some of the lowest

gas prices in the state, our City businesses care deeply about our residents

and we see that affordability over and over in these quantifiable reports.”

Cotter said.