Cost Of Living in Empire, CA

The cost of living index is based on a national average of 100. For example, if the cost of living is 90, then it is 10% lower than average. If the cost of living is 110, then it is 10% higher than average. The breakdown for each index is as follows: goods & services (33%), groceries (13%), health care (5%), housing (30%), transportation (9%) and utilities (10%). If the cost of living data was unavailable for this city, estimates based upon nearby cities were used.
Index	Empire	California	National
Cost of living	106	140	100
Goods & Services	104	111	100
Groceries	104	112	100
Health care	96	109	100
Housing	96	196	100
Transportation	120	126	100
Utilities	140	127	100

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Cost Of Living Quick Facts

The cost of living in Empire is 24% lower than the California average
The cost of living in Empire is 6% higher than the national average
Empire housing is 4% lower than the national average
California general sales tax is 42% higher than the national average
California state income tax is 61% lower than the national average

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Price difference in compared to

Cost of living index
Goods & Services index
Groceries index
Health care index
Housing index
Transportation index
Utilities index

Median Income & Debt-To-Income Ratio

Median Income	Per Year	Per Month	Max Budget (28% DTI)	Max Budget (36% DTI)
Owners	$57,463	$4,789	$1,341	$1,724
Renters	$31,716	$2,643	$740	$952

A good way to judge both the affordability of the housing and the cost of living in Empire is by simply calculating the maximum that should be spent on housing, otherwise known as the debt-to-income ratio (DTI). The plan is to avoid spending more than 28 percent of the gross income on costs that pertain to housing and no more than 36 percent on all expenses and debts. Empire has a median income of about $57,463 for people who own homes. Based on that number, a maximum of $1,341 should be spent on expenses related to housing. Renters have a slightly different median income, which is $31,716. Based on this average, renters should spend no more than $740 on all rental costs if they want to maintain a non-impoverished standard of living.

California Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
California	7.25%	10.5%

California Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
California	1%	13.3%

Goods & Services

Item	Empire	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$26.83	$24.26	10.6%
Beauty Salon	$76.57	$45.56	68.0%
Toothpaste	$3.86	$3.70	4.3%
Shampoo	$1.56	$1.28	21.9%
Movie	$14.64	$12.13	20.6%
Bowling	$23.78	$18.00	32.1%

Groceries

Item	Empire	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$6.21	$5.84	6.3%
Fried Chicken	$2.10	$1.57	33.7%
Milk	$4.99	$4.67	6.9%
Potatoes	$4.98	$4.93	0.9%
Pizza	$15.69	$12.09	29.8%
Beer	$10.96	$10.41	5.3%

Health Care

Item	Empire	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$157.88	$125.68	25.6%
Doctor	$166.71	$135.78	22.8%
Dentist	$148.27	$113.29	30.9%
Ibuprofen	$11.69	$10.65	9.8%
Lipitor	$498.45	$468.60	6.4%

Housing

Item	Empire	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$177,500.00	$184,700.00	3.9%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$4,545.90	$2,346.69	93.7%
Apartment Rent	$893.00	$949.00	5.9%

Transportation

Item	Empire	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$4.63	$3.46	33.9%
Tire Balancing	$70.51	$59.92	17.7%

Utilities

Item	Empire	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$299.78	$193.99	54.5%
Phone	$191.56	$192.25	0.4%

Although the cost of living data is updated regularly, this cost of living information is to be used as estimates only as prices can change on an ongoing basis.

Nearby cities with low cost of living

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Cowan, CA	472	111	10.7%
Monterey Park Tract, CA	293	111	10.7%
Parklawn, CA	1,844	104	3.6%
Airport, CA	1,276	105	5.2%
Bret Harte, CA	5,020	105	5.3%
Empire, CA	3,285	106	6.1%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Ellsworth, WI	3,284	92	7.5%
Inuvik, NT	3,284	n/a
Livingston, AL	3,286	86	13.8%
Kotzebue, AK	3,283	136	36.1%
Elkins, AR	3,283	94	6.0%
Empire, CA	3,285	106	6.1%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2023 and was released from C2ER in January, 2024; this is the most current data available.

Cost of Living in Empire, CA