An Overview of Cost of Living in Fairmont, MN
The cost of living in Fairmont affects the quality of life one can afford in this new location. It allows people to assess whether they can maintain their preferred lifestyle, including housing, leisure activities and dining options. Your total monthly expenditures can varry depending on the area, as well as many other factors. The cost of living in Fairmont is 90, which is 10% lower than the national average. Knowledge of the cost of living can help individuals make informed decisions about retirement savings, investments, and financial goals.
What Do Locals Say About the Cost of Living in Fairmont?
Nobody knows their city better than the people who actually live there. So, we asked 7 local residents how they would rate the cost of living in Fairmont and this is how they responded. 86% of people said that the cost of living was affordable, with prices decreasing, while 14% of people said that the cost of living was very expensive and prices continue to rise.
Is Fairmont Affordable?
Is Fairmont affordable? It's a key consideration when pondering a move, as affordability often shapes your choices. The cost of living index (we discussed it earlier), coupled with housing costs and income levels, serves as the cornerstone for determining a location's affordability. Take Fairmont, for instance, where the median home price falls 25.7% lower than the national average, and monthly rent rates are 32.6% lower than usual. Additionally, median income levels contribute to the equation, with Fairmont flaunting a median household income of $49,402, 10.7% lower than the national norm.
What Factors can Influence the Cost of Living in Fairmont?
Housing: A sought-after location with high housing demand often leads to increased property values and rental rates, which can significantly inflate the overall cost of living. Conversely, areas with low housing demand, particularly in less desirable locales, tend to experience the opposite effect, causing prices to drop and contributing to a more affordable cost of living. In Fairmont, the housing index stands at 27.7% lower than the national average.
Groceries: Grocery costs have continued to increase significantly over the last 2-3 years. In some markets the cost of food has gone up by more than 20% in that period. While other markets have managed to see only a moderate uptick. These food costs can have a major impact on the cost of living in any area. In Fairmont, the groceries index is 0.7% lower than the national average.
Subsidies: Some areas might offer government subsidies or assistance programs that help lower cost of living for residents. These programs can include anything from Medicare, Medicaid, housing subsidies, low-income home energy assistance programs, school lunch programs, supplemental nutrition assistance programs, student loans, electric vehicle tax credits, affordable care act subsidies and crop subsidies. Areas that offer less subsidies, could see an increase in their cost of living.
Where is the Data From?
The Fairmont cost of living data displayed above is derived from the C2ER cost of living index to provide a useful and reasonably accurate measure of living cost differences in urban areas. The index takes into account data from 300 independent researches, covering more than 60 goods and services across 6 different categories, to create an overall index for each area, with 100 being the average. The C2ER index does not include sales or income tax rates in their data, however AreaVibes does include both income and sales tax rates in the overall cost of living score for each area.