 TITLE: What Are the Most Affordable States to Live In? CONTENT: How Are the Cheapest States Determined?\n---------------------------------------\nThe Council for Community and Economic Research (known as C2ER) determines its Cost of Living Index by looking at six component categories in each state: housing, utilities, grocery items, transportation, health care, and miscellaneous goods and services. C2ER assesses about 60 types of goods and services in metropolitan statistical areas and counties throughout the country.\nTo create the index, C2ER considers the number 100 to be the average cost of living across the whole country. If a state has a cost of living that is less than 100, it costs less than average and is more affordable. If a state has a cost of living that is more than 100, it costs more than average and is less affordable.\nExperian's state-by-state list is based on the average cost of living for all participating metropolitan areas in each state, as calculated by the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center. END