Tri-City Herald
www.tri-cityherald.com

Living in the Tri-Cities can help stretch your dollars.

The latest ACCRA Cost of Living Index, which tracks cost of living trends nationwide, says the Tri-Cities is still the most inexpensive place to live in the Pacific Northwest.

The index gave the Tri-Cities a 88.9 composite rating in its third quarter listing. Ratings are based on an average of all communities studied, with a rating of 100 being the average.

Although the cost of transportation, health care and miscellaneous goods and services increased marginally in the Tri-City area in the third quarter compared with the previous quarter, declines in housing and grocery costs helped the Tri-Cities improve its current rating by one point. In the second quarter, the Tri-Cities’ composite rating was 89.9.

More than 350 communities are included in the index compiled by the Council for Community and Economic Research.

Spokane at 93.5; Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton at 95.1, and Boise at 96.0 were the closest competitors of the Tri-Cities. The Seattle-Bellevue-Everett area had a 124.6 rating.

Pratik Joshi: 582-1541; pjoshi@tricityherald.com