Cost Of Living in Mills River, NC

The cost of living index is based on a national average of 100. For example, if the cost of living is 90, then it is 10% lower than average. If the cost of living is 110, then it is 10% higher than average. The breakdown for each index is as follows: goods & services (33%), groceries (13%), health care (5%), housing (30%), transportation (9%) and utilities (10%). If the cost of living data was unavailable for this city, estimates based upon nearby cities were used.
Index	Mills River	North Carolina	National
Cost of living	112	94	100
Goods & Services	100	98	100
Groceries	98	98	100
Health care	110	108	100
Housing	141	85	100
Transportation	92	92	100
Utilities	108	94	100

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Cost Of Living Quick Facts

The cost of living in Mills River is 20% higher than the North Carolina average
The cost of living in Mills River is 12% higher than the national average
Mills River housing is 41% higher than the national average
North Carolina general sales tax is 7% lower than the national average
North Carolina state income tax is 83% higher than the national average

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Price difference in compared to

Cost of living index
Goods & Services index
Groceries index
Health care index
Housing index
Transportation index
Utilities index

Median Income & Debt-To-Income Ratio

Median Income	Per Year	Per Month	Max Budget (28% DTI)	Max Budget (36% DTI)
Owners	$71,745	$5,979	$1,674	$2,153
Renters	$41,083	$3,424	$959	$1,233

The affordability of the housing market in Mills River, NC as well as the overall cost of living can be predicted by what percent of the monthly income is spent on housing related costs. This is konwn as the debt-to-income ratio (DTI). The overall rule of thumb is that no more than 28% of your gross income should be spent on the overall costs related to housing and no more than 36% of gross income on all expenses and debts. Among Mills River homeowners, the median income is $71,745. This indicates that a monthly maximum of $1,674 should be spent by homeowners on all housing related costs. Renters have a median income of $41,083. This indicates that renters would have a maximum of $959 for their rent related monthly costs.

North Carolina Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
North Carolina	4.75%	7.5%

North Carolina Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
North Carolina	4.75%	4.75%

Goods & Services

Item	Mills River	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$28.00	$24.26	15.4%
Beauty Salon	$48.22	$45.56	5.8%
Toothpaste	$3.80	$3.70	2.6%
Shampoo	$1.33	$1.28	3.6%
Movie	$13.07	$12.13	7.7%
Bowling	$15.89	$18.00	11.7%

Groceries

Item	Mills River	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$6.47	$5.84	10.7%
Fried Chicken	$1.46	$1.57	7.0%
Milk	$4.61	$4.67	1.3%
Potatoes	$5.27	$4.93	6.7%
Pizza	$10.44	$12.09	13.6%
Beer	$10.44	$10.41	0.3%

Health Care

Item	Mills River	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$155.11	$125.68	23.4%
Doctor	$166.73	$135.78	22.8%
Dentist	$113.89	$113.29	0.5%
Ibuprofen	$10.57	$10.65	0.7%
Lipitor	$509.86	$468.60	8.8%

Housing

Item	Mills River	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$285,600.00	$184,700.00	54.6%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$2,256.40	$2,346.69	3.8%
Apartment Rent	$1,046.00	$949.00	10.2%

Transportation

Item	Mills River	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$3.29	$3.46	5.0%
Tire Balancing	$49.99	$59.92	16.6%

Utilities

Item	Mills River	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$221.84	$193.99	14.4%
Phone	$186.82	$192.25	2.8%

Although the cost of living data is updated regularly, this cost of living information is to be used as estimates only as prices can change on an ongoing basis.

Nearby cities with low cost of living

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Flat Rock CDP, NC	1,435	84	15.8%
Fruitland, NC	2,216	86	14.0%
Barker Heights, NC	1,289	94	6.1%
Canton, NC	4,313	94	6.0%
East Flat Rock, NC	6,108	95	5.1%
Mills River, NC	7,319	112	12.3%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Mexia, TX	7,319	84	15.8%
Washington, IA	7,318	91	9.2%
Northridge, OH	7,318	94	6.3%
Winooski, VT	7,320	114	14.1%
Whitewater Region, ON	7,320	n/a
Mills River, NC	7,319	112	12.3%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2023 and was released from C2ER in January, 2024; this is the most current data available.

Cost of Living in Mills River, NC