ASHLAND — Ashland is the eighth least expensive city in the United States, according to a recently released cost-of-living index.
Every quarter, the Council for Community and Economic Research, a national non-profit, compares prices between participating cities nationwide and ranks them against the average of all the cities’ cost of living, represented by a score of 100. Ashland’s score is 81.9, meaning that its cost of living is almost 20 percent cheaper than the average city.
The cheapest place to live is Harlingen, Texas, a town of 70,000 on the southern tip of the state that earned a score of 75.6.
Ashland’s overall total is made up of scores from individual categories like groceries, housing, and utilities.
Ashland was below average in every category the index ranked except for grocery prices, which came in with a score of 109.6.
The city’s lowest category was housing with a score of 54.9, meaning home prices are nearly half that of the national average.
Ashland’s high placement marks a return to its pre-COVID performance on the index. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Ashland would frequently place on the top 10 list but the city slipped off in recent years, Emily Grimm, the Director of Membership and Marketing at the Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce, said.
“We’re glad to see it back on there,” she said.
The Ashland chamber collected data for the cost of living index by gathering local prices for groceries, tire alignments, haircuts, pizzas, new homes, and more, Grimm said.
