U.S. cost of living list: Harlingen cheapest, McAllen 4th-cheapest, Brownsville 7th-cheapest

HARLINGEN — It is cheaper to live here than in any of 312 urban areas in the United States.

McAllen is the fourth-cheapest and Brownsville is the seventh-cheapest.

The ACCRA Cost of Living Index, produced by the Council for Community and Economic Research, or C2ER, released the figures that Harlingen’s cost of living is nearly 20 percent below the national average.

Manhattan has the highest cost of living, at twice the national average.

“Cost of living is an important factor when companies consider expansion or relocation,” CEO of the Harlingen Economic Development Corporation Bill Martin said. “Companies look at it from a standpoint of where will be an attractive place for employees to live.”

Martin said the EDC often uses the ACCRA data to attract businesses to Harlingen. He said if they know the competing cities, the EDC can compare factors, including the cost of living.

C2ER, a non-profit professional organization based in Washington, D.C., collects costs quarterly from more than 312 urban areas in six categories: housing, utilities, grocery items, transportation, health care and miscellaneous goods and services.

The numbers are weighted for professionals and exclude taxes, Dean Frutiger with C2ER said.

C2ER sets the national average for these numbers at 100. Inflation is not included. The quarterly reports represent a single point in time, and the number of participants changes each quarter, according to a recent ACCRA report.

Harlingen participates in the C2ER report, Martin said, adding that the numbers were sent to C2ER even before the EDC was established.

“The ACCRA Cost of Living Index measures relative price levels for consumer goods and services in participating areas,” according to the ACCRA report. “The average for all participating places, both metropolitan and non-metropolitan equals 100, and each participant’s index is read as a percentage of the average for all places.”

Harlingen’s cost of living index is 80.5; Manhattan’s is 218.4.

C2ER looks at monthly rent for a two-bedroom, 950-square foot apartment; a 2,400-square foot, four-bedroom, two-bath new house; the mortgage rate and monthly home payment including interest and mortgage rate assuming a 25 percent down payment.

Housing counts for 30 percent of the cost of living.

Local long-time real estate agent Connie de la Garza said the C2ER numbers have always been good for Harlingen. He has sold real estate in Harlingen for 38 years and said the cost of living here is “excellent.”

“It’s a great market for the city of Harlingen,” Garza said. “(Harlingen can) market this as a place that you should come and start your business or retire in. Harlingen is a retiree haven.”

Another Harlingen real estate agent Arnold Celis said that the best time to buy anything is “When it’s on sale. And home prices right now are on sale. You could make a decent living and live in a great house.”

C2ER also weighs grocery items like ground beef, milk, eggs, potatoes and bread.

For example, a frozen meal in Harlingen costs $1.96, compared to $4.27 in Manhattan. Harlingen is number three of 312 areas for the cheapest groceries.

C2ER also looks at utility costs such as electricity, and transportation including gasoline and auto maintenance, as well as doctor visits and the price of ibuprofen.

The sixth and most heavily weighted category is the miscellaneous, which includes eating out, a haircut, monthly newspaper subscription and beer and wine. Miscellaneous makes up 33 percent of the area’s average.

Mayor Chris Boswell calls this ranking a good selling tool.

“I think it’s a great selling point for our community to be able to tell prospective employers and retailers and people who want to locate here we have a low cost of living. It’s important to attract health care professionals to our Veterans Administration health system with the surgical center on the RAC campus.”

--

Danielle Altenburg writes for the Valley Morning Star in Harlingen.