Research Reports

This study, conducted in 2017, provides new and current data on the cost of living (COL) in Pennsylvania's rural and urban areas, and explores several important issues, including whether the rural COL advantage still exists, if it has increased or dwindled, why it exists, and how Pennsylvania compares on the urban-rural cost differential with two other peer states. Housing is the key category driving the higher overall COL in the state. The overall COL tended to be highest among Pennsylvania counties in the southeastern and southwestern parts of the state. Pennsylvania's rural counties have a lower COL than its urban counties. The urban-rural differential was typically 2 or 3 percent for groceries, transportation, health care, and miscellaneous goods and services categories. The key factor that causes the COL to be higher in some areas than others is income. The unemployment rate consistently reduced the overall COL by about 5 percent. This study documents the fact that housing is the good whose cost varies the most from place to place, and for which the urban-rural differential is largest.