An Overview of Cost of Living in Cortland, NY
The cost of living in Cortland affects the quality of life one can afford in this new location. It allows people to assess whether they can maintain their preferred lifestyle, including housing, leisure activities and dining options. Your total monthly expenditures can varry depending on the area, as well as many other factors. The cost of living in Cortland is 92, which is 8% lower than the national average. Knowledge of the cost of living can help individuals make informed decisions about retirement savings, investments, and financial goals.
In Cortland, daily expenses such as food, housing, goods and services, transportation and health care are in line with comparable areas and about average when compared to all cities across the nation. This ensures that the cost of living in Cortland will resemble that of an average city, contributing to a manageable cost of living.
Is Cortland Affordable?
Is Cortland an affordable place to live? That's a valid question to ask when you're thinking about moving to a new city. After all, how much it costs to live somewhere can be a huge factor in your decision. Affordability can be broken down into 3 common categories. The cost of living index (we talked about it earlier), housing expenses and income levels all play a big role in figuring out if a place is affordable. For instance, in Cortland, the median home price is 39.1% lower than what most folks pay across the country, and monthly rent prices are 19.4% lower than the usual rates. Income levels in Cortland come in at $48,859, which is 11.7% lower than the national average.
What Factors can Influence the Cost of Living in Cortland?
Transportation: In situations where public transportation is limited or nonexistent, local residents may be required to own and maintain their own vehicles, contributing to an elevated cost of living. Monthly expenditures may encompass fuel costs, insurance premiums, routine vehicle upkeep and possibly lease or financing payments. In Cortland, the transportation index is 7.8% higher than the national average.
Groceries: Grocery costs have continued to increase significantly over the last 2-3 years. In some markets the cost of food has gone up by more than 20% in that period. While other markets have managed to see only a moderate uptick. These food costs can have a major impact on the cost of living in any area. In Cortland, the groceries index is 1% lower than the national average.
Healthcare: Healthcare expenditures and insurance premium rates can vary significantly, contingent upon the particular city or state. Factors such as the accessibility of healthcare facilities, out-of-pocket expenses for doctor's appointments, dental care charges, prescription medication costs, and expenses related to specialized medical care can all have an impact on the overall cost of living. In Cortland, healthcare costs are 3.2% higher than the national average.
Where is the Data From?
The Cortland cost of living data displayed above is derived from the C2ER cost of living index to provide a useful and reasonably accurate measure of living cost differences in urban areas. The index takes into account data from 300 independent researches, covering more than 60 goods and services across 6 different categories, to create an overall index for each area, with 100 being the average. The C2ER index does not include sales or income tax rates in their data, however AreaVibes does include both income and sales tax rates in the overall cost of living score for each area.