The cost of living is on the rise in southern Utah but at a pace only slightly ahead of the rest of the nation, according to a professor of finance at southern Utah University.
Alan Hamlin compiles quarterly cost- of-living figures, which are published in the American Chamber of Commerce Researcher's Association Cost of Living index. The index compares the cost of groceries, housing, utilities, transportation, health care and miscellaneous items in more than 300 cities and towns nationwide.The most recently published figures, for the fourth quarter of 1991, indicate that Cedar City has a composite cost-of-living index of 91.6, or 8.4 percent below the national average. The fourth-quarter index for St. George is 100.2, or almost exactly the national average cost of living.
Hamlin said the biggest single reason for the discrepancy between the two communities is the accelerating cost of housing in St. George, which averaged 104.4 percent of the national median. Mid-level management neighborhood homes averaged $117,500 in St. George, while in Cedar City the average was $90,750. The national average was $109,037 during the same period.
Hamlin has recently completed figures for the second quarter of 1992, and house prices in both cities have continued to rise in the intervening six months. The figures have moved upward to $118,500 in St. George and $90,800 in Cedar City, he said. In addition, rents are climbing in both communities. A 900-square-foot apartment now rents for $448 in St. George and $339 in Cedar City.
The overall rate of inflation between the first and second quarters of 1992 was 2.62 percent in St. George and 2.66 percent in Cedar City.
"While these inflation rates slightly exceed the national average, they are indicative of southern Utah's relative prosperity while most of the nation suffered the effects of a continuing recession," Hamlin said.
For example, the composite index for Las Vegas is 108.4; Phoenix is 104.5; Los Angeles is 126.9; and San Diego is 128.5.