Corridor Releases First Cost Of Living Index

(Spencer)—The Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation is out with its first cost of living index for its four-county service area.

The index has several key areas including food, housing, utilities, transportation, healthcare and miscellaneous goods and services. There is a separate index for each area, as well as a composite.

The findings are based on surveys corridor staff conducted at area grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants and other shops, as well as by telephone.

The average composite score for all participating communities is 100. Estherville’s composite score was 103.3; Spencer was 101.1, Spirit Lake 100.9 and Storm Lake was 100.4. Utilities ranged well below average in all four communities, from a low of 79 in Spencer to 96.8 in Storm Lake

Corridor staff will be gathering data for the upcoming quarter’s cost of living index. They’ll be doing that January 10^th-12^th.