EAU CLAIRE, WI - Acccording to a report released by the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER), Eau Claire has an overall cost of living of 93.9 for the first quarter of 2018. Published since 1968, the Cost of Living Index has been the most consistent source of city-to-city cost comparisons available. The national average equals 100 and each participant's index is a percentage of the average for all places. The lower the cost living index, the cheaper goods and services are in that area.

Prices of consumer goods and services are collected by Eau Claire's Economic Development Division three times a year in order to measure regional differences. The composite index is based on six categories - housing, utilities, grocery items, transportation, health care, and miscellaneous goods and services. Eau Claire's composite index improved its relative position from 96.6 in the first quarter of 2017 to 93.9 in 2018.

While everday living expenses in Eau Claire fall below the national average, they are also the second lowest of the five Wisconsin metro areas participating in the survey. Among the individual categories, Eau Claire stands out nationally and compared to the other Wisconsin metro areas for the low cost indices in the Housing and Grocery Items categories (75.1, and 93.0 respectively).

The full report is available upon request.