Bullhead City Press Release
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.