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Cost of Living:
Whether employer or employee, one of the most impressive attributes of Springfield/Sangamon County is its low cost of living relative to most regions of the United States. The Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce assesses the local cost of living index factor quarterly by adhering to the guidelines stipulated by the American Chamber of Commerce Researchers Association (ACCRA), as do Chambers throughout the nation. The following table compares the cost of a hypothetical "basket" of goods and services similar to those used to calculate the Consumer Price Index.
The overall cost of living in Springfield has been and remains at a level less than the national average, providing local residents with proportionately greater disposable income for recreation, savings, and other discretionary expenditures.
Housing:
Springfield and
Sangamon County offer a wide variety of housing options at costs
that are among the lowest in the United States, as reflected in
quarterly reports produced by the National Association of
Homebuilders (NAHB) ranking housing affordability. For quarter 4 of
2005, Springfield ranked twenty-eighth nationwide. NAHB data
for fourth quarter 2005 reports Springfield's Housing Opportunity
Index (HOI) at 77.8% for it's share of homes affordable for the
median family income. Click
here to view housing affordability nationwide.
Data from the 2000 Census reported Sangamon County with 78,722
households, representing an increase of 8.6% since 1990. In quarter
one of 2006, the monthly rent for a quality two-bedroom unfurnished
apartment with two baths averaged $649.
